Sanguis stood facing away from his two subordinates, his hands folded neatly over the pommel of his sword as he scanned the deserted streets of the Crystal Empire. All of the citizens had either fled the Empire or were killed, and to a warlord who merely wanted to take control of this place, it would have been a satisfying victory.

Alas, there was one thing that was angering Sanguis.

“That boy escaped. He was supposed to be mine. Tell me, Sombra, why weren’t you able to subdue the mech?” he said, glaring over his shoulder as the dark king bowed respectfully.

“I am sorry, Sanguis, but it was too powerful for me,” he growled apologetically, “even my dark powers could not have defeated it.”
Sanguis laughed coldly. “Really?” he said, letting his blade fall to the ground as he turned to look Sombra in the eye, “Because if I remember correctly, I was able to defeat that hunk of metal with ease. Your power does not subsede mine as much as you think it does; you should have been able to destroy it within moments! Perhaps my faith in you was misplaced…”

Sombra winced at the human’s words, and Sanguis turned his disapproving gaze to Chrysalis. “And you. You promised me an army like no other, but your changelings fell almost as easily as my soldiers did! And they’ve been dead for thousands of years, trapped in the frozen wasteland that surrounds this Empire!” he shouted at the changeling queen.

Chrysalis gave Sanguis an angry look. “Keep in mind that your ‘soldiers’ didn’t do a good job fighting either. Why are you blaming us when the real problem here is your horrible leadership?” she said hotly as she approached the warlord unflinchingly until her face was merely inches from his.

Sanguis narrowed his eyes. “I may forgive your current insolence if you return to your former position and apologize!” he growled through gritted teeth, his one regenerated eye holding enough anger to make Chrysalis back down. “Now, normally the punishment I would serve to my underlings who have failed in this manner would be to cast them out into the frozen tundra to die. And, of course, I would send some sort of unnatural creature to hunt them and ensure they did not return or try to undermine my future plans,” he said with a slight predatory grin, which made Sombra and Chrysalis shudder, “but you are powerful allies, and have gotten me control of this Empire; a feat that does impress me just the slightest bit. It would be a shame to waste such potential by banishing you,” he said as he rested a comforting hand on Sombra’s shoulder, which made the king let out a light sigh of relief.

“Which is why I am going to kill you and absorb your powers.”

Sombra suddenly froze, his eyes wide as a stream of energy flowed from his body and up the warlord’s arm. His pelt lost its brilliant, black shine, and faded to a ragged, patchy grey. The evil king let out a choked gasp as he collapsed on the ground, his breathing heavy at first, but slowly faded into silence.

Sanguis turned to the Changeling queen, who was taking slow, panicked steps back as her horn glowed a poisonous green. She fired a beam of energy at him as she entered a dark alleyway, a beam that had defeated the mighty Princess Celestia, but Sanguis simply held up a hand and completely blocked the attack.
“You should be more careful who you disappoint,” Sanguis said in a low voice as he picked up his sword. With her back against a wall, Chrysalis stared in pure terror as the warlord drew closer to her.

A long scream filled the Crystal Empire for a few moments, but was abruptly silenced. After about a minute, Sanguis emerged from the shadows, his body fully regenerated to the state it was when he was sealed away ages ago. He looked back to where his two servants stood before and grinned at the midnight-blue mare that lay on the ground, her body wrapped in black, spectral chains.

“If you’re going to kill me, just do it. No need to for the theatrics you used on the others,” she spat angrily.

Sanguis chuckled. “Kill you? No, no, my dear; you have great power within you, which would normally be incentive enough to end your life, but I have different plans. I know the way you and the human boy feel for each other; the way you leapt to save him from me, and the way he rushed to rescue you. Killing you is not at all a part of my plan,” he said as he drew near, his voice suddenly dropping to a whisper, “Something far worse awaits you.”

Suddenly, he held a tight hand over Luna’s muzzle and wrapped his arm around her, a black aura flowing from Sanguis to the lunar princess. She struggled and tried to scream, but her movements eventually slowed and her eyelids grew heavy as she fell unconscious.

Sanguis stood up as her blue pelt darkened like a night sky without stars, and her mane lengthened and became more ethereal. Her body grew so she stood nearly as tall as an Earth horse, and she snapped open her now-wicked green eyes and laughed evilly.

“I AM REBORN!” Nightmare Moon shouted to the heavens, followed by a long string of maniacal laughter.

~-~-~-~-~

“Okay, okay, I give up!” Drayke said urgently as I pinned him face-down with one arm behind his back, “Just get off of me! I have an issue with being in physical contact with other dudes.”
I stood up and brushed myself off, and nodded to the others. “Keep him in one spot,” I said urgently, and they all nodded and formed a circle around the former Obsidian King.

I turned to Celestia and Cadence, a sarcastic smile across my face. “Princesses. Would you care to explain to me HOW IN THE HELL HE IS STILL ALIVE?!” I screamed violently.
Celestia gave Cadence a shameful look. “I do not know how Drayke survived; after the battle, that crystal was given to Cadence and Shining Armor for safe-keeping. If anyone knows what is going on, it’s her,” she said scoldingly.

I turned to the princess of love. “Well?” I asked impatiently, my eyes wide with anger.

Cadence glared and walked right up to me, staring me down. “Do not raise your voice at me,” she said in a quiet, rage-filled voice. “I just watched my husband die right in front of me, so before you start playing the blame game, why don’t you make sure you know what everypony else is dealing with!” she snapped.

Twilight gasped. “My brother is...dead?” she asked in a shaky, disbelieving voice.

I ignored her and narrowed my eyes. “You don’t need to remind me Shining Armor is dead. I was there too, remember? He died for me. On top of that, so did Luna, AND SO DID MY FATHER!” I screamed right in the pink alicorn’s face. “You wanted me to bond with him? Well, you got that wish; we were the perfect family right up to the moment Sanguis ran him through with a fucking broadsword! So why don’t you stop guilt-tripping me, because I’ll say whatever I damn-well please!” I shouted. Cadence stepped back, surprised by my sudden and intense hostility.

Celestia spoke up. “Allen,” she said gently, “please come down from there.”
I gave her a confused look, and suddenly realized I was hovering about a foot in the air, a white aura radiating from my body.
“I don’t remember him being able to do that,” I heard Drayke mutter from behind me, “what the hell did I miss when I was locked up?”

I glared over my shoulder at him, and suddenly pushed past Applejack and Rarity to grab him by the neck.

“Why aren’t you dead?” I growled at him.

Drayke smiled coolly. “My crystal can do a lot more than give me epic armor and an instantaneous healing factor,” he said plainly. “When you stabbed me - kind of a dick move, by the way - I was absorbed into the crystal until someone else could release me. You poor suckers ended up being my ticket to freedom,” he said, pushing my arm down and walking to the center of the throne room. “And now, it’s time for some good, old-fashioned revenge.”

I laughed. “Your crystal doesn’t have any power, Drayke,” I said coldly, “I absorbed most of it to get us out of the Crystal Empire.”
Drayke scowled. “Yeah? Well… well… fuck you!” he said in defeat.
I smiled slightly. “Actually, I have an idea. Celestia,” I said, turning to the white alicorn, “would you be able to charge Drayke’s crystal like you did mine?” I inquired.

She nodded as I went on: “Alright, asshole, here’s the deal: we’re in the middle of a shitstorm. An ancient warlord from the human-pony war has been revived, and he has control of the Crystal Empire. He’s killed a good friend of mine, my father, and probably even my girlfriend,” I explained.
Drayke let out a hysterical laugh. “Dude, you’re banging a horse? What the hell, man? I mean, it looks like you’re technically one of them already, but… JESUS! That’s weird!” he cried, wiping a tear from his eye.

I narrowed my eyes and punched him in the face, my hoof leaving a cut on his cheek.
“SHUT UP!” I bellowed, my cry bordering on the Royal Canterlot Voice. “Now, you are going to help me kill this guy and end his conquest, or else all of Equestria will be his.” I finished calmly.

Drayke nodded thoughtfully. “So, you’re telling me that there’s an ancient, powerful warlord brought back to life, and has his mind set on ruling Equestria, and you need my help to stop him?” he asked rhetorically.
I nodded slightly.

Drayke grinned. “Well. Sucks for you,” he said dismissively as he turned to the door.

He got about three steps in before I threw an energy ball that hit him square in the back, knocking him on his face.
“Either you help me,” I said, my voice shaking with fury, “or I kill you again. And this time, there’s no guarantee you’ll just pop back into the crystal.”

He got to his feet and glared at me for what seemed like forever, until he sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Alright. But I’m not doing jack shit until I get my crystal back to full power!” he declared.
I narrowed my eyes. “You’ll get enough power to use your armor and scythe, and nothing else!” I shot back.

There was no way I was going to risk giving him the power to summon an army of Sentinels.

He rolled his eyes again. “Fine,” he said dramatically, and tossed the black gem to me. I caught it and brought it to Celestia.
“I need his help,” I said reassuringly when she looked uncertain about my plan.
“I trust you, Allen, but I do not trust him. Make sure you keep an eye on him,” she said in a low voice. “and bring my sister back safely.”

Drayke tapped his foot impatiently. “Are we going to charge my crystal and give me my powers, or are we going to just talk about me behind my back?” he asked no one in particular.
Celestia sighed and shot a beam of magic at the crystal, and it glowed a bright red for a moment before returning to its previous, jet-black state. I tossed it back to Drayke, who smiled thankfully.

Just then, an explosion of black smoke surrounded him, and everyone jumped back as he emerged from the cloud, donning his signature, black armor.

“Hail to the king, baby,” he said in a warped voice as he summoned his scythe. “Let’s ditch this joint, Allen; we’ve got stiffs to slay.”