Finally! 1,000 agonizing years of isolation and I've finally returned! Did Celestia's pitiful student, her student of flesh and blood, dare to challenge me? Weak, arrogant. And now she finds herself ensnared in a trap sprung by her own stupidity.

Even in this debilitated form, this 'smoke cloud', my subjects still recognize their true ruler. I see them now, staring in bafflement over their failing means of protection.

In a desperate attempt to flee the city, one mare donning pale imitations of gold and grey, broke away from the gathered crowd in a fit of frantic screams before ramming head-on into a darkened crystal. I materialize my head and leer over her with a bone-chilling sigh.

The slave recognizes her master in an instant, curling up into a pathetic ball and whispering to herself, "King Sombra..."

I have waited so long to hear my name uttered in fear once again. Look at them all, cowering before me. Did they really think I would not return? Insolent creatures, disrespectful. So much work, now lost. I'll have to rebuild my empire from the ground up. But of course, this shouldn't be a problem with the 'help' of my slaves. My slaves.

I expand my gaseous form, placing a quarantine around the entire city. I can see them all, anywhere the gas is is another set of eyes and ears. The thousands of them, terrified of their master's inevitable return.

Even after an eternity of isolation I can still recognize every one of their faces. There's Mr. Dawnsword, cowering under the table like he did when trying to skip work shifts. And there's Mrs. Patchwork, for once not tending to another's freshly whipped scars. She'll be busy tonight, I can see to that.

Towering over the Gemstone District, I crane my head towards a mortified mob of crystal ponies and growl with one thousand years of bottled cruelty, "My crystal slaves..."

I shift my scornful gaze to the might of the Crystal Empire, the Crystal Tower. As predicted, Celestia's student is trapped in there with the Crystal Heart. Foolish little filly. Crystals as black as night continued to grow from the tower balcony, sprouting a fresh plethora with every foot. Soon, my metropolis would look just as it did a thousand years ago. It would be just as I remembered it.

But something caught me ear, at the peak of the tower. A young voice, male, shouted to some reprehensible vermin down below, "Hey! Up here! I've got the Crystal Heart!"

What!? How!? I magnify my vision, scoping the tower's peak. My worst fears have come true. A dragon still in adolescence had his mangy paws on my Crystal Heart! No! After decades of isolation I refuse to be beaten like this to a dragon!

"That is mine!" I scream, throwing my materialized form into the ground, painting a shadowy path leading to the tower. Crystal pillars of ebony pigmentation erected from the ground I passed over, each one progressively higher than the last. This insolent fool will not escape me!

Once enough space was closed between myself and the tower, a final crystalline structure housing my form shot towards the young drake. In a true miracle, the dragon lost his step and is sent into a fast acceleration toward the ground. Even better, he lost the Crystal Heart.

I don't even care about the dragon at this point. He could splatter into a red paste for all I care. All's I want is my Crystal Heart, safe and secure. Without warning, the artifact's untapped powers of restoration activated as I drew near, restoring my body into it's signature form. Steel horseshoes and breastplate, a cape made from the finest velvet, and even my one of a kind hoof-crafted headpiece.

This sudden change, while undoubtedly welcome, was unexpected and almost led me into a subsequently humiliating end. But I held my ground, and still managed to raise the crystal platform towards victory. The heart drew nearer; the dragon made a futile attempt at retrieving the Heart, failing of course. I lick my lips in anticipation.

Victory has never tasted so sweet.

It's so close! Just a couple more feet! When victory seemed just within an arm's reach, a pink blur zips past my field of vision, taking the Crystal Heart and dragon with it.

What? What happened!? I cease my crystal's growth and look around, trying to spot any sign of the pony bold enough to challenge me. Just when the foundations of victory couldn't crumble any further, the one who stole the Heart was none other than it's rightful owner, the Crystal Princess, Mi Amore Cadenza.

Landing with a hope-crushing thud, the princess levitates the glowering Heart before her subjects and spouts controversial ideas love and hope. Such feelings have no place in MY empire! It belongs to ME!

But I am far too late for any victorious salvation. Cadenza returned the artifact to it's centerpiece, in the Central Plaza below the tower. The ponies coats are recrystallized in their disgustingly blissful glory. Adding insult to injury, they all bowed down to the Crystal Princess.

It was as if they had completely forgotten me.

"What?" I mutter, battling emotions of rage and confusion as a glow as bright as the Crystal Heart's highlighted the Empire's streets.

I realized what was happening. In an event that hasn't come to pass in thousands of years, the Empire's protection was revitalizing, and even stronger than before.

"No! Stop!" I yelled in desperation, knowing full-well that victory is anything but a possibility at this point. The heart projected an icy-blue dome, expanding far across the reaches of the Crystal Empire. Even the outsiders were rehabilitated in it's arcane glow, warping them into false Crystal Ponies. Disrespectful would be an understatement.

As the magical aura passed through my hate-filled body, I felt the magnified sensation of hope and love tearing it apart. I roared in pain and anguish. This is it. This is my legacy. This is how my slaves will remember me.

No. I refused give up so easily 1,000 years ago, and this is no different. There'll be another time, just not today. I will have my revenge. I will make Celestia's student, her friends, and the damned Crystal Princess suffer for challenging me! I'll make them pay, make them wish they were dead! My presence has never truly left Equestria, and it certainly won't now.

These scornful thoughts of revenge were the last in my mind before being blown to smithereens. And you know what? They made it a lot less painful.

---

Scootaloo rubbed her puffy violet eyes, shooting a dirty glare at the scooter leaning against a rock. "It's not fair." she muttered in a slur of hiccups and sobs. "Rainbow Dash said she'd watch me today..."

The filly hugged her hind legs, pushing them tighter against her chest. For extra comfort, the sunset-colored filly wrapped her scrawny, unkempt tail around her quivering form. Staring out into Ponyville from her isolated spot on the hill, Scootaloo felt the day was lost. Her acclaimed idol failed to show up and watch her skate. Thinking about what might have been brought only pain.

Just as the heartbroken filly looked up into the heavens, as if searching for answers, the everlasting darkness was broken by a phenomenon of colors.

Scootaloo gawked at the sudden spectrum with awe, never seeing anything like it before. For reasons she couldn't explain, just looking at the wavy lights made Scootaloo happier than ever. She got up on all fours, giggling at this amazing display.

Realizing she was appreciating something as 'uncool' as nature, the pegasus filly brushed it off and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. The Sonic Rainboom is ten times cooler, anyway."

'I bet it is...' a ghastly voiced whispered. To Scootaloo, it was as if somepony whispered right in her ear. It was nerve-wracking.

The voice gave the filly an uneasy chill. She whipped her head around to find no one there, only darkness. "Who's there?" she demanded rather aggressively, further proving her point by taking a stance and flaring open her underdeveloped wings.

What caught her eye was a peculiar object laid several feet away. Tangled in the uncut grass was a blood-red horn emitting a sinister swampy-green aura.