At long last! I...am...reborn! As King Sombra neared the Crystal Heart, he discovered he had been restored to his former glory, granted both a physical form and returned to sanity in the process. Taking a moment to savor the look of fear on the dragon hatchling's face, King Sombra ripped the Crystal Heart out of the air with his magic and held it close to his chest, feeling its power pour directly into him. A pink blur entered his peripheral vision and he reacted, blasting the alicorn in the chest with a black and red energy beam as the dragon landed on her back, sending the two plummeting to the ground. A deep cackle reverberated throughout the kingdom as King Sombra stood triumphantly on his black crystal spire, the dirt-brown skies and jagged crystalline structures a testament to his victory.

"Attention all crystal ponies, your Lord Sovereign has returned!" King Sombra roared, his voice echoing like a clap of thunder. "All those who wish to aid these foreign dissidents will be branded as traitors to the empire and punished severely." His crimson eyes focused on the ponies on the castle balcony, concentrating all of his black magic on them as monolithic spikes rose from the ground to their location, causing them to scatter fearfully. Storing the Crystal Heart deep inside his black spire, King Sombra changed into his shadow form to charge towards the fleeing ponies, trapping them in a large black claw. "These are the Elements of Harmony? Pathetic!"

"No, no, no!" Twilight Sparkle could only watch in horror as King Sombra was restored to his former glory, transforming from a pony-headed shadow to a black-maned flesh-and-blood stallion. She wasn't sure which was worse but knew that now that he had his body, he was now virtually unstoppable. I've got to get out of here! I've got to help my friends! Twilight attempted to summon her magic only to find her horn pathetically sputtering and spitting out a few sparks before it stopped working altogether. Frustrated, she slammed her hooves against the barrier, trying different spots in order to find a weakness. It would've been more plausible to try to give an ursa major a belly rub.

After what seemed to be the fifty-second or fifty-third kick, Twilight lay in an exhausted slump, staring bitterly at the barrier and silently cursing King Sombra's villainous ingenuity. What am I going to do? As if to answer her prayers, the barrier suddenly retracted into the floor, leaving Twilight momentarily dumbfounded before she shook her head and charged back downstairs, not wishing to push her luck by questioning her good fortune. When she arrived at ground level, Twilight froze at the sight of a gigantic version of Sombra's shadow form engulfing her friends in a massive cloud of darkness. Laughter, like icy water droplets, chilled Twilight's spine and the unicorn found herself shivering as two red burning lights peered deep into her soul. All joy, love and hope vanished from her heart, replaced with sorrow and mind-numbing fear that kept her hooves planted to the ground.

"TWILIGHT!"

A scream snapped Twilight out of her terror-induced stupor and she felt her heart drop at the sight of Cadence and Spike being swallowed up by the darkness, the little dragon's hand pleadingly reaching out towards her. Meeting those soft green eyes of his, Twilight found her strength renewed as she charged towards the shadow pony, her horn blazing with intensity. With a mighty war-cry, she released a bolt of raspberry-pink energy at the tyrant, cutting a hole in the black, smoke-like form. The darkness retreated, pulling her friends behind it and throwing them into a newly-erected crystalline cage. It then charged towards the ground six feet away from Twilight, shrinking and reforming into a unicorn stallion, his mouth contorted into a smile of sheer amusement and malicious intent.

"And you must be Celestia's prized pupil," King Sombra grinned, his words poison-laced honey. "I must admit, I'm impressed with your gung-ho attitude, even in the face of defeat." He began to casually pace around the mare, whose horn was illuminated with magic and ready to strike. "Most inspiring. However, even someone as foolishly brave as you cannot be so naïve as to think that you actually stand a chance against me?" Noticing Twilight's furiously defiant expression, King Sombra chuckled darkly, "Very well then. Let the games begin, Miss Sparkle."

What many would call a battle was actually a misnomer since a "battle" would imply that one participating party has a chance at victory. Twilight's magic, though advanced, stood nary a chance against the Shadow Emperor's own black arts, being the equivalent of attacking a bear with a feather duster. Her magic blasts did nothing except blow non life-threatening holes in the king's body, which he promptly repaired and continued fighting as though nothing happened. It was clear that Sombra was toying with Twilight; he could end the fight in one fell swoop but instead prolonged it to get a better understanding of his enemy's capabilities. Even in her tired, desperate state, she had to give him credit for thinking strategically, even if it was mainly for sadistic showboating reasons.

"Had enough, Miss Sparkle?"

Fatigue had begun to set in as Twilight stood heaving on trembling legs. Sweat glistened on her brow as her lungs fought for air. "No...not even close," she panted, refusing to surrender. Oh sweet Celestia, what am I doing? I'm ready to collapse and he's not even showing any signs of slowing down! There's no defeating him!

The umbrum stalked up to Twilight, his curved horn burning with black and purple fire. "Well now! You're a real spitfire, aren't you? No wonder Celestia keeps you around!" She found herself settling to one knee, her joints aching and her body begging to rest. "It's been a long time since I've had a good magical duel and you, my dear, have provided me with a millennia's worth of entertainment. For that, I'll finish you off quickly." Rest...I just want to...rest...

A rainbow-colored trail zoomed past Twilight and attacked the king, causing his energy bolt to narrowly avoid hitting Twilight's head. She jerked her neck to see Rainbow Dash darting to and fro, evading Sombra's blows and putting in some hits of her own. "Dash? What are...-?"

"Twilight, get out of here! I've got this!"

"Dash, I...-"

Sombra adopted his shadow form and unleashed several, tentacle-like appendages that swatted at the Pegasus as if she were a fly at a picnic. "Now Twilight! Go!" Rainbow screamed just before a tentacle grabbed her and formed a cage around her body. She thrashed around, stomping, hitting, even biting at the black tendrils. Her cerise eyes, now brimming with tears, peered into Twilight's violet ones. "Please..."

Twilight nodded and forced herself to tear her gaze away from Rainbow Dash as she fled from the castle grounds, fighting back tears at the sound of screams that echoed behind her. Everything blurred past her as she ran, past the shops and businesses, running until the weakened forcefield and the kingdom were long behind her. Taking one last look at the Crystal Kingdom, Twilight sank to her knees and collapsed, the weight of her cowardice pulling her into merciful darkness.

The castle's dungeons shimmered with crystalline brilliance but this did nothing to alleviate the distress and terror of being locked underground. Sombra took his time upon his descent, savoring the joy of victory as he beheld his captives. It had truly been too long since his dungeons were empty and he was fortunate to have such noteworthy heroes to help break it in again. The Elements of Harmony, plus Princess Cadence, Shining Armor and the baby dragon were all chained to the wall, their faces sullen with defeat. Those with wings, horns, or in Cadence's case, both, had their respective appendages covered in black crystals to ensure their compliance as prisoners.

Eyeing each and every one of them, Sombra clapped his hooves together and asked rather cheerfully, "So...who's going to be the first one to start talking. Anypony?" He was met with indignant silence, which was to be expected. He placed a hoof beneath Princess Cadence's chin. "What about you, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?"

"Don't you touch her, you creep!" Shining Armor growled as he thrashed around in his chains.

Sombra removed his hoof and considered the unicorn. "Don't you think the lady can speak for herself? How presumptuous."

Princess Cadence turned her face away. "Leave him alone, Sombra! Do what you want...with me...but let Shining Armor and the others go!" Her whole body shook with revulsion and only then did Sombra grasp her implication. And it did not make the umbrum happy.

"I'm not keeping any of you for...that," he spat angrily, appearing disgusted by the very notion. "I'm many things, but a pervert I am not!" They were all terrified by Sombra's sudden outburst; even Rainbow Dash found her stomach twisted up in frightful knots. "Besides," he continued with more calm in his voice. "With five of the six Elements of Harmony out of commission, there's no way Celestia and Luna can use those meddlesome trinkets against me."

"So why in tha tarnation are we here?" Applejack inquired irately.

Sombra's hooves crashed onto the wall on either side of Applejack's head, immediately silencing her as he bent his face in close to hers. "In politics, we call this 'leverage.' I have something the other side wants. And I bet you that they'll trade anything to get you lot back." He leaned in so close that his and Applejack's noses were almost touching. "So I highly suggest you all act smart and do not...piss...me...off." Slowly withdrawing his face with a deep breath, Sombra made his way back up the steps when he stopped and added, "By the way, I hope you're enjoying your stay in the Crystal Empire."

Visions of living shadows, black crystals and seeing her friends drowning in darkness haunted Twilight Sparkles' mind, investing her brain with nightmares, especially ones about the black stallion with the scarlet eyes and bone-chilling laughter. She tossed and turned in her sleep, her front hooves flying out to batter anypony that dared to approach her. The umbrum came closer and closer; she could practically feel his breath on her cheek. An armored hoof caressed Twilight's cheek, its icy cold touch traveling to her chest and infecting it while her heart pounded like a war drum.

"You're mine now, Miss Sparkle. You can't escape the darkness. You can't escape...me," Dream-Sombra said licking his lips, his voice dangerously silky-smooth as his face came closer and closer to her own.

"No, no. Not me. NO!"

"Twilight, Twilight Sparkle?"

Everything was blurry but once her vision cleared, Twilight found herself lying in a queen-sized bed, its ivory-white silken sheets drenched with sweat. She sighed with relief once she caught sight of a familiar face smiling sweetly down at her. "Princess Celestia!" Ignoring the sweat, she leapt up and wrapped her arms around her teacher. "Oh Celestia, it was so terrible! King Sombra returned and now he's whole again, he captured my friends along with Cadence and Shining Armor and I just ran because Rainbow Dash told me to while she held him off and I-..."

Princess Celestia chuckled and held the tip of her hoof against Twilight's lips. "It's good to see you too but I'm afraid I couldn't catch all of that. Take a deep breath and once you're calm, why don't you tell me the story, only a bit slower?"

Twilight nodded and laughed nervously as Celestia took her hoof away. Taking several deep breaths, she then went on to explain what happened, starting with her and her friend's arrival at the Crystal Empire, their discovery of the crystal ponies' memory problems, their attempts to correct it, King Sombra's attack and finally how the umbrum managed to regain his lost power and take over. "....So Rainbow Dash told me to run and I ran. I ran until I passed out. And then the next thing I know is that I woke up here." She looked around, unfamiliar with the room's setup. "Where is 'here,' anyway?"

Princess Celestia chuckled, "Oh, well, you're in Canterlot. A group of merchants found you and brought you here. I couldn't very well have my student stay in a dingy hotel so I had them bring you in my room."

Twilight nearly leapt out of the bed. "Y-your r-room? I'm staying in your bed? I don't mean to inconvenience you...-"

"I assure you, it's quite alright. After your ordeal, I figured you needed a good night's rest."

"Ah, so the patient's awake? That's excellent to hear!"

Princess Luna strode into the room carrying a tray with a glass of water and a plate of tomato soup and crackers. She set the tray down on the nightstand and placed a hoof against Twilight's forehead. "Are you alright? You're cold."

Remembering her dream, Twilight visibly shuddered at the word and smiled weakly, "I'm alright. Just tired."

Thankfully, Princess Celestia took the opportunity to jump in. "Sister, Twilight just got done telling me that King Sombra is back and has successfully not only regained his physical form but has also taken over the Crystal Empire and is holding Twilight's friends, Cadence and Shining Armor hostage."

Princess Luna's face darkened at the news. "This...this is terrible. If there was any being I feared more than Sombra, I have yet to encounter them. While Discord was irrational, childish and selfish, Sombra is cruel, fiendishly clever and above all, completely heartless and power-driven. There's no telling what he has in store for his hostages."

Understandably, Twilight ignored the food to down the glass of water, finding herself very thirsty and lacking an appetite. Slamming the glass down, she sat up and declared, "Okay, so what's our next move?"

Author's Notes:

Okay, full disclosure: I did base this loosely off of DisneyFanatic23's "Bride of Discord," which I HIGHLY suggest you either read or watch the audio drama on YouTube (which is what first got me into MLP).

Whoo! Writing King Sombra was a lot of fun. He just oozes with sadistic charm and sly villainy. Honestly, I love his design and abilities and I thought the showrunners wasted an opportunity with his character, especially since they based him off of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings, one of the biggest ficitonal baddies of all time.