/Whenever the character's POV is thinking, it will be in slashes. I find it much more noticeable and easier to read./

•••

Wind howled as the wild blizzard swept through the terrain, sending snow and small chunks of ice flying out across the land. The sky was an unsettling dark grey; the clouds hung low above the ground, blocking the sun from view. It seemed as if this snowstorm could kill a pony within a matter of seconds. The already freezing air rushed across the hills, making the temperature drop even more.

However, none of the storm could be heard or felt by the unicorn stallion. He was hiding deep underground with a small fire in front of him. The cave still had a uncomfortable chill, but it was better than nothing.

The fallen king was deep in thought. /The Ice of the Arctic North is unbearable. I'm lucky I could find enough power to turn back into my former self./

The entirety of Equestria thought he was dead. When the Crystal Heart had been returned to the empire, the magical border reformed and sent him flying, back into the snowy terrain. He had used his magic, and in a convincing display, he broke apart into pieces and appeared to die. However, all he had done was turned into a shadow and split up.

He had been hiding away in the caverns below the arctic for nearly half a year, regaining his magical power. And he had- his magic was at the exact same level as it was a thousand years ago, when he first overthrew the empire.

/I am powerful./ Sombra told himself. /I will get back my slaves, one way or another./

His blood red horn lit up, and the fire grew in size, illuminating more of the cave. /I shall be the ruler of Equestria./ He smiled evilly. His fangs glinted in the light. /I will be a true king!/

There was something that Sombra wanted as badly as he wanted his slaves back.

He wanted wings.

He wanted to be an alicorn.

It was true that the supreme species of Equestria was in fact the alicorn. They were magical creations themselves, with unimaginable power. They were powerful, immortal ponies that had always ruled over the country.

And he wanted to be one.

Though Sombra had been living undercover, he had heard from visitors going to the Crystal Empire many things. One thing that he overhead a long time ago had surprised him greatly.

Apparently the mare that had tried to stop his plans last time was now a princess. Twilight Sparkle was her name, and though Sombra didn't know much about her, he did know one thing.

She had transformed from unicorn to alicorn.

/If I can find Twilight Sparkle, then I can figure out how to become an alicorn myself./ Yes, Cadence had also changed into an alicorn, but Sombra knew it would be better to find Twilight. Cadence was protected by the Crystal Empire, and rarely ever left it. Plus, she had gone from pegasus to alicorn, so Twilight's situation was more like his.

Sombra had his ways of overhearing every little thing that visitors gossiped about. A centaur known as Tirek nearly took over Equestria, but Princess Twilight and her friends, though being stripped of the Elements of Harmony- which would make it much easier to get to Twilight, Sombra noted- they had managed to summon some other strong form of magic to defeat him. It had also given Twilight a castle somehow.

King Sombra was quite confused by all this, but it was important to keep in mind all the same. /I only have one chance. If I fail, then Equestria will realize that I'm alive./ he reminded himself.

With that, his horn glowed bright and he turned into a cloud of dark grey smoke. And slowly but surely, he rose out of the cave, up to the surface of Equestria.

•••

Twilight Sparkle sat up in her bed and stretched, yawning loudly. /Ugh. I really need to stop staying up so late./ She grumbled under her breath. One of her bad habits was to stay awake far into the night, reading a book in the darkness with nothing lighting the room other than her own horn. It always would play out the same way- she'd go into the library and pick up several novels at around 9 'o clock. Then she would sit down by the table and read through them until it was about 11. She'd look at the clock and decide to read one more chapter. And after that, she'd choose to read just one more. And one more. And one more. The cycle repeated itself until she literally fell asleep on the floor. Usually by then a guard would've came by and woke her up, scolded her for staying up so late, and then make sure she actually made it back to her bedroom without passing out. It wasn't a good thing for her to be doing- every morning took nearly half an hour for her to even consider crawling out of bed.
The young princess lay back down on top of the sheets, trying to fall asleep. But the fact that sun was shining through the windows and that her mouth felt as dry as sandpaper made her finally decide to go and eat breakfast.

She trotted down the stairs and entered the kitchen. Surprisingly enough, Spike wasn't awake yet. He normally would've been in the kitchen cooking by now.

Twilight didn't consider that. She levitated a box of cereal out of the cabinet and set it on the table. She was about to grab the carton of juice out of the fridge when she heard a voice shout at her.

"Twilight!" Spike raced towards the kitchen. "What are you doing?!"

The purple mare gave him a confused glance. "Getting a glass of orange juice..?"

"You haven't touched the toaster oven, right?" Spike asked nervously.

"No. I haven't."

Spike sighed in relief. "Good. There shouldn't be any chance of you starting a fire then."

"Spike." Twilight frowned. "My castle is made of crystals. They aren't flammable."

"You'd find a way." Spike laughed.

"Are you saying I'm a bad cook?"

"You almost burned down the old library. Twice."

"So? I never got around to buying a new stove. That thing was always rickety." Twilight tried to defend.

"You were making toast, Twilight."

"Oh. Right." Twilight chuckled. "Okay, fine. You win."

Spike used a stool to reach into a jar full of gemstones on the counter. "You look like you need a coffee."

Twilight yawned. "I stayed up too late last night." Spike quickly pulled his hand out of the jar. "I saw that. Put the other one back."

Spike sighed in defeat and put the second gem that he had swiped back in the jar. "Why can I only take one of these a day?" He grouched.

"Do you have ANY idea how much those things are worth?" Twilight said while putting the orange juice back in the fridge and accepting Spike's suggestion to get a coffee. She grabbed a mug and set it on the brewer.

"Twilight. You're a princess. I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter how many jewels you have." Spike reminded her.

"I-I know. Spike." Twilight looked away. "Sorry. I'm just having trouble getting used to the fact that money isn't a problem for us anymore."
"What do you mean?" Spike tilted his head.

"Well, being a librarian doesn't pay very much. I'll say that." Twilight shrugged. "I didn't have any reliable source of funds. That's why every time you asked for something expensive, like a heater or a new full bed, I said no. We couldn't afford it."

"And when were you planning on telling me this?" Spike asked, clearly frustrated.

"I thought you knew." Twilight mused. "Did you just think that I had an infinite amount of bits or something?"

Spike bit his lip. "I don't really know."

Twilight levitated her coffee over to her. "Not even you know what you assumed." She laughed.

"I guess so." Spike shrugged. "Oh, by the way, I'm gonna go help Rarity today. She's reorganizing the bottom floor of the boutique."

Twilight suddenly spit out the coffee that she was drinking. Spike looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Does that surprise you or something?" He questioned.

"No, no." Twilight shook her head. "I just forgot to put sugar in my coffee."

Spike shook his head. "Oh, Twilight..."

"What can I say? I forgot how bitter this stuff is without sugar."

Spike waved to her. "I'm gonna head out. See you later."

Just before he left the kitchen, Twilight called out to him. "One more question." He looked through the door. "How come you slept in today?"

Spike face-palmed and grumbled under his breath. "I didn't wake up late. You woke up an hour earlier than usual."

"I-I did?"

"Yeah. Normally I walk past your room and you're sitting on your bed, staring at the ceiling." Spike chuckled.

"Oh." Twilight waved goodbye. "Sorry to bother."

"It's fine." Spike dismissed her apology with a shake of his head before exiting.

/I guess I've got nothing better to do, so I might as well stay in the library today./ Twilight decided. /Maybe I could even write to Sunset Shimmer./ She smiled at the thought. Her other friend lived in a completely different dimension, but she still was able to write to her using a magical spell book.

Twilight entered the library with her now sweetened coffee and sat down by the table. A stack of books left over from the night before was in front of her. /Back to work, I suppose./ She told herself before levitating the book from the top of the pile and setting it in front of her. She cracked open the book and began to read.

Author's Notes:

I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! If you want to stay more up to date, consider checking my page out on WattPad. If you don't mind. I update first there, due to the interface being more friendly to mobile users.
Ocparty_Press
Also, does any pony know what the size requirements and file type the cover art needs to be? I don't understand what I'm doing wrong, but I already have a fully made cover. Could anypony help me out? I'd really appreciate it!