He did not recall the tall Princess being purple. And he never would have expected her to be the one who would put him back together. But it seemed, in fact, that his servants had truly gone above and beyond with their plan.
She had found him, on the border of that road, after many a passing cart had pushed him there. She had taken him, brought him to the castle, and there showed him just how far the preparations for his return had come.
His body, almost complete already, stood proudly in the gardens. The Princess herself, already, had gathered in her most of the powers of two others, and on top of that had put the fourth in charge of raising a fifth, so his return may see him even more powerful.
All the time, she kept him close, showcasing to him the progress made towards his return. The ponies who had thwarted his plans the first time were aging, and would soon be too old and weak to fight back again. He, instead, would be young still.
All other manners of things she showed him, too. New sources of power he could raid. New worlds he could conquer. New lands to put under his control, new creatures to subjugate. The leaders of the nations he would overtake, and what their relationship to his benefactor were, so that he may exploit them.
All was almost ready. He just needed to wait a bit more, and then the Princess would resurrect him, and give him the throne. She knew what the best time would be, and most likely she was working on a way to deal with that annoying mish-mash of creatures who seemed to be the only one who could truly interfere with his plans. But the day would come eventually, and he just needed to wait.
Just wait.