The frigid winds of the Frozen North howled and tore at the ivory-white landscape, sending clumps of heavy sleet tumbling down on the thick layer of snow that covered it. For miles the snow stretched on, like a seemingly endless ocean of shimmering ivory. A lone wolf peered over the horizon, her keen eyes scanning the surrounding area for prey, her ears swiveling at the slightest sound. As a hunter, the she-wolf was always alert and ready for whatever came next, be it her next meal or a potential threat. Something small scurried across the frozen landscape and the she-wolf pursued it, her eyes detecting that it was a plump rabbit, something to gorge on before returning to the warm comfort of her cavern lair.
She chased the rabbit for a few feet before leaping at it and, catching its thick neck in between her jaws, bit down and tasted blood as the poor rabbit let out a squeal. The bittersweet liquid slid down her throat as her jaws snapped the rabbit's neck, leaving it dangling from her jutting mouth, her tongue lapping at the broken skin. The she-wolf trotted across the snow with her prize when something shiny winked at her from beneath a thin layer of snow and she approached it, almost as if instinctively drawn towards the object. At first glance, it was some sort of red stone shaped like a serpent's fang except it glowed with an intense red aura. Setting aside the dead rabbit, she sniffed at the stone and then threw herself backwards, a deep growl rumbling in her throat.
A purple mist rose from the stone, slowly slithering above it and, despite the lack of eyes, somehow glared at the she-wolf, causing her growl to die in her throat as she whimpered at the mist's presence. Despite living in a frozen tundra, a chill raced up her spine.
"Þegar þú horfir í hyldýpið, þá er ég að horfa á þig," it hissed, a sound that seemed to claw at the she-wolf's soul. Snatching up the dead rabbit, she quickly bolted away from the mist and back to the safety of her lair.
Meanwhile, the mist shot into the sky and hurtled across the sky, seeking the one thing that could make it whole once more. Right now, the mist was nothing more than a collection of instincts, its primary one being the restoration of its physical form and its secondary the complete and total annihilation of those responsible for its current state. It felt the tug of the red gem calling out to it, beckoning it to its location, which turned out to be deep in the Everfree Forest. The mist finally discovered its quarry hidden inside of a hollowed-out tree stump and it if could, the mist would be salivating. It had not seen the Alicorn Amulet in well over a thousand years and thanked Tartarus that it managed to make it out of the Crystal Empire.
My special little keepsake. My phylactery.
The mist reached out greedily with a semi-solid tendril and came into contact with the amulet's red gem, filling it with a burst of dark magic that filled its whole world with an agony that it had not felt since its death. Its vision clouded with pain and disorientation as the mist felt its body reconstructing itself from scratch. Nerve endings and muscles wrapped themselves around slowly materializing bones, filling the new shape with a sense of cold as the chilly winds came into contact with its tender new flesh. Then came the skin and fur, which painfully broke through the stallion's scalp and hindquarters as air rushed into his lungs, allowing him to draw in several stinging breaths. Eyeballs popped into his sockets, turning his pitch black world into one of greens, browns and yellows as he observed his environment.
Much like a newborn infant, a scream erupted from the stallion's mouth, one of intense, sorrowful pain as it lay trembling in the grass, bare and shivering from the combination of the cold air and the persistent agony of his rebirth.
"I...I am..." The stallion began but then clutched his head as the memories began to flood his mind. His childhood, going to school, falling in love, discovering dark magic. He violently thrashed around, recalling his rise to power, his defeat via the Royal Sisters, the millennia spent trapped in the dark, unable to move but fully conscious of his surroundings, with only the Darkness in his head to keep his company and the promise of vengeance keeping his body warm. He remembered awakening in the Frozen North, his attempts to get inside the Crystal Kingdom, his brief return to flesh and blood status and his violent demise.
Bones popped and cracked as King Sombra painfully rose to his hooves, his fore and hindlegs stiff and aching. He'd gone for so long without a physical form that he almost forgot what it felt like to stand on four limbs again, stumbling and swaying as he fought to maintain his balance. He lifted a foreleg, inspecting the veins and sinews on his limb as though viewing it for the first time. Being trapped inside of his shadow form and banished to an icy prison for a millennium was one thing but being blasted into a million pieces? That demanded retribution.
Accursed ponies, accursed dragon hatchling!
King Sombra ground his teeth, his eyes glowing with rage. Images flashed before his mind, his skin crawling as he relived the agony of being ripped apart, his body flung apart and shattering like a tea cup on the stone floor. The pain had been indescribable, the fear unfathomable. He inwardly growled. That little drake and that meddlesome pink princess may've been responsible for his death but Princess Celestia was ultimately responsible for his fate. He hated ponykind, but held a special place of contempt for alicorns.
If it wasn't for her, I would've still been ruling the Crystal Empire and maybe, I could've ended her tyranny once and for all.
Securing the Alicorn Amulet in place, King Sombra shifted into his shadow form and flew in the direction of Canterlot, the hunger for vengeance gnawing at his innards. The night air chilled his lungs but he was used to the cold, having lived in the Frozen North for almost his whole life. It wasn't long before the city, and more importantly, the white and purple castle came into view.
Soon, my dearest Celestia. I have missed you, my sweet. My Tia.
~*~
Within the Crystal Empire, the Crystal Castle rose above the city, twinkling lightly in the glow of the moon's beams. It was the crown jewel of the kingdom, a quartz and sapphire construct that was the pinnacle of crystalline architecture. Inside the royal master bedroom, its rulers Princess Cadence and Shining Armor slept. While Shining Armor slumbered peacefully, Princess Cadence was not so fortunate, the female alicorn tossing and turning whilst in the grips of terror, the likes of which she'd never experience before. She was frozen in a void, unable to see past the endless blackness around her. "Hello? Is anypony there?"
A lidless crimson eye appeared before her, staring intensely at her as it burst into a furious corona of purple flames.
"Þegar þú horfir í hyldýpið, þá er ég að horfa á þig!"
Princess Cadence shrieked, her hooves gripping at the bedsheets as her hindlegs kicked furiously as if running to escape the voice and the menace that it represented. "No, get away! Stay away from me!"
"Þú getur ekki falið, ég sé þig! You cannot hide, I can see you!"
"What do you want from me?!" Princess Cadence screamed.
The eye's feline-esque pupil widened, a black, unicorn-shaped mass emerging from it and opening its red eyes as purple smoke flowed from them. "My return is nigh. This you know. Come to me." The air began to tug at Princess Cadence, thousands of invisible claws raking at her flesh, pulling her towards the shape and the piercing, flaming eye.
"No, leave me be, demon! Leave me alone!"
"Cadence..."
"Cadence!"
"Cadence..."
"Cadence! Wake up!" Princess Cadence's eyes flew open, finding Shining Armor standing over her and his hooves firmly planted on her shoulders. She was back in her bedroom, her body coated with a thin layer of sweat. Her chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath, the memory of that flaming crimson eye still haunting her. "Cadence...-"
Shining Armor yelped slightly when Princess Cadence dove into him, her forelegs wrapped tightly around him and her body shaking with fear, a torrent of tears streaming down her face. He'd never seen Cadence so afraid before so whatever she dreamt about must've had her mightily spooked. "It's okay, Cadence. You're okay." He held her close to him, his hoof gently stroking her mane as she wept and he waited until she was ready to speak.
"It...it was King Sombra. He was trying to get me to come with him!" She peered at him through tear-filled eyes. "He's going to come back! I just know he is!"
With a tender hoof, Shining Armor wiped away Princess Cadence's tears, a loving smile on his face. "Cadence, King Sombra is dead. I promise you, he's not going to get you." He tilted her chin up and added softly, "I won't let anything happen to you. It was just a nightmare." He pulled her into his embrace, his nostrils taking in the strawberry-mango scent of her mane. "Nothing bad is ever going to happen to you. Not while I'm around."
Despite her husband's words of comfort, Princess Cadence couldn't help but find herself overcome with skepticism. What did her nightmare mean? Why was she now dreaming of him? And why did it feel as though there was some connection she wasn't seeing, some mystery she needed to unravel?