//------------------------------//
// Evil Never Dies 
// Story: Echoing Shadows 
// by LordSiravant 
//------------------------------//

Chapter One: Evil Never Dies

In the blistering cold of the frozen north, there was no life whatsoever to be found. No birds, no animals, no trees, nothing but the howling, subzero winds and endless blanket of pure white, undisturbed snow. The only features that could be seen were distant, ice-capped mountains looming over the frozen wasteland. It was hard to believe that a place like the Crystal Empire could exist in such a lifeless area, but exist it did. But we look far away from even that sparkling utopia, in some featureless expanse of snow. In this particular spot, a single blemish breached the smooth white of the snow's surface. It was black, and yet tipped blood-red.

A horn.

It had been laying here for several days, giving off a foul, malicious aura that, thankfully, nopony was around to feel. However, something suddenly began to happen.

A shadow began to creep out from beneath the horn, expanding and spreading. Soon the horn itself turned as black as its shadow and melted into the unnatural darkness, which seethed and writhed as if guided by some unseen will. The darkness then began to grow from the ground, forming legs; strong, powerful legs protected by polished, silver armor with sharp, jagged edges. A body merged together above these legs, a muscular frame concealed by a royal red cape. And then a neck, a black-furred tail. Last to come was the being's head, an equine face with a strong, square jaw and a mane as black as night. A silver crown sat atop his head, and below it was the once-lonely horn.

The figure raised its head, and a pair of venom-green eyes snapped open, a purple, mist-like aura trailing out of them. Then he smiled, showing his unnaturally sharp teeth.

And he laughed.

With only the blistering winds as his witness, King Sombra, Ruler of the Crystal Empire, had returned.

XXXXXX

Princess Luna's moon shone brightly over the Crystal Empire, illuminating all the crystalline structures in a pale glow, unnoticed by the now-sleeping populace. All except for two, that is.

Princess Cadance stood on the balcony of the Crystal Palace overlooking the entire city-state, admiring the beauty of the kingdom she and her husband had come to call their own. The pink alicorn smiled warmly, knowing that her subjects could finally sleep in peace, knowing that their former, despotic ruler was no more.

A mere thought concerning that inequine fiend sent an uncontrollable shiver up Cadance's spine. True, he was dead, but the sheer horror of the Crystal King's presence was not something easily forgotten. He had been a force so terrible, Discord paled in comparison.

Cadance sighed as she put the thoughts of King Sombra aside so she could enjoy her evening. Her thoughts drifted to her sister-in-law in Ponyville. She missed Twilight dearly. Perhaps she and Shining Armor could schedule a get-together sometime soon.

Speaking of the devil, the door to their bedroom creaked open, and a handsome white unicorn stallion with a dark blue mane and tail promptly let himself in. "Oh, Cadance," Prince Shining Armor cooed to his wife, catching her attention. "I'm baaaaack."

Cadance smiled. "Hey, what took you so long?"

Shining shut the door behind him with his magic. "Ah, just some last-minute things. The Gryphon King has apparently heard about the Crystal Empire and sent an envoy. I just finished with him. We'll be having guests in three days' time."

"The Gryphons, huh?" Cadance questioned, lovingly nuzzling her husband. "They're always fun to be around."

"Maybe if you constantly have a stick up your flank," Shining remarked, earning a playful smack from Cadance as they chuckled.

"You are awful!"

"I know. And you love me anyways!"

Cadance laughed as she and Shining shared a kiss. "So...are you ready to...?" Shining asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Catching on, Cadance said, "You mean...? Oh..."

Shining's face fell. "Well, if you want to hold off for right now, I'll understand..."

Cadance then flashed a cat-like grin and batted her long eyelashes. "Nuh uh, loverboy. I'm ready when you're ready!"

Shining grinned in anticipation as he and his lover approached their bed. However, the mood was spontaneously cut short by a curt knock at the door. Shining groaned and opened the door, revealing the head mistress, Amethyst Twinkle. She was a rather well-aged Crystal Pony, having a deep purple coat and navy blue and white mane tied neatly up into a bun. She was a bit of a prude, much to Cadance's chagrin. "Yes, Amethyst, what is it?" Shining asked.

"The head cook wishes to discuss some final matters on the preparation of the feast for the Gryphon nobles in three days," she replied in a crisp, no-nonsense tone.

She seriously reminded Shining of a few Canterlot snobs he'd rather not think about. "And he couldn't ask me earlier?" Shining groaned.

"It's not my business," Amethyst answered. "I was just delivering the message."

"Yes, I know, I know," Shining sighed. "I'll be there presently. I'll be back shortly, alright, dear?"

Cadance only smiled and waved her hoof in a 'get going' gesture, and Shining reluctantly left her alone to go tend to his final affair. The alicorn trotted over to her vanity cabinet and looked in the mirror. Beautiful as ever. She lifted her brush with her magic and then began absent-mindedly brushing her mane.

"Ha ha ha ha ha."

Cadance abruptly dropped her brush and sat bolt upright. She could have sworn she had just heard something. Laughter? Cadance looked all around behind her, her eyes scanning the bedroom for any signs of an intruder. There was nothing. Maybe it's just my mind playing tricks on me, she thought, turning back to her mirror.

What she saw in the reflection made her scream in pure terror.

XXXXXX

Cadance's terrified shriek permeated the entire palace, and as the sound assaulted his ears, Shining felt his heart stop. "CADANCE!" he yelled, galloping back towards theirbedroom, all other thoughts forced out of his mind.

What few palace guards there were (Shining was having a hard time gathering new recruits) tried desperately to keep pace with their prince as they barreled towards the royal bedchamber. Once they finally reached the door, Shining practically threw it off its hinges, crying out for his beloved.

What he found immediately made him and his guards go silent in shock and horror.

Princess Cadance, or rather what had once been Princess Cadance, was now a crystal statue carved in her likeness. Her face was frozen in a look of utter terror and shock. Her mouth hung open, as if she had tried to call Shining's name in her final moments.

It was then that they noticed the other presence in the room, smirking cruelly at them.

Shining's eyes went wide with disbelief. His guards were so overcome by terror that they turned and fled, never looking back. For there, standing at the frozen Cadance's side, was the Shadow Tyrant himself, King Sombra.

The wicked despot regarded Shining with demonic, pitiless eyes. It took several moments for Shining to find his voice again. "N...Not possible...You...You're dead. We saw it!"

Sombra tilted his head back and laughed darkly. "Oh, Shining Armor. Don't tell me you actually believed me gone forever, did you?"

"Your body was atomized by the Crystal Heart! There was nothing left! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?!"

"My plans for this world are far too grand to allow something as trivial as death to inconvenience me," Sombra answered. "And it just so happens that there was something left of me from that blast. My horn. And with it, I was able to recreate my body. An interesting feat of magic, wouldn't you say?"

Sombra idly flicked Cadance's statue with his armored hoof. "After all, I am the King of the Crystal Empire. A good king doesn't abandon his subjects."

Shining pointed a hoof at the evil tyrant. "You're not the King! Not anymore! You had your chance, Sombra! A thousand years ago, you had the chance to bring about an age of prosperity, but you squandered it for your own personal gain! And then you made slaves out of your own countryponies! You're not fit to wear that crown!"

Sombra's smirk was replaced by a menacing snarl. "Who are you to tell me who is and isn't worthy of the Empire's throne? You, who so declared the Crystal Empire as a vassal state to that odious toad occupying the Equestrian throne?!"

"Don't you dare speak that way about Princess Celestia!" Shining roared. "She's the best ruler in the world and is responsible for moving the sun across the sky every day! She is a goddess and she has a divine right to govern allponykind!"

"Goddess? You think her a goddess?!" Sombra laughed. "You naive, ignorant fool! Gods do not exist! We have only ourselves, and the princess is nothing more than a cake-obsessesed lout who doesn't realize her time is long since over!"

Shining gritted his teeth. "Change my wife back, and leave my kingdom right now, Sombra. You are not welcome here."

Sombra chuckled as he glanced at crystallized Cadance. "I rather like her like this."

The tyrant king nonchalantly deflected a magic blast sent his way by Shining and sneered. "We already duelled once. You lost, and I wasn't even at my full strength. You truly think you stand a better chance now?"

"We'll find out!" Shining shouted, sending a flurry of magical bolts at Sombra, who negated or deflected them all with his own magic.

Shining threw every spell he knew at Sombra, but not one of them had gotten past the king's defenses. Of course, this was to be expected. While Shining was one of the most skilled unicorn warriors in Equestria, he still could not compare to the power of somepony it took the power of both alicorn goddesses just to contain. Sombra wasn't even breaking a sweat. But he felt like toying with this whelp, so he made no move to attack, only defend.

Magic and spells collided again and again, lighting up the whole room. But Sombra clearly had the upper hand, and Shining was starting to wear himself out. Realizing this wasn't working, Shining opted for the only option he had left: he lowered his horn and charged right at Sombra. Seeing this, Sombra swiftly side-stepped to the right.

But Shining had been expecting that. He changed his course the moment Sombra moved, and before the dark king could react, Shining's horn buried itself in the king's ribcage.

Sombra looked down at the wound for a moment before he burst out laughing, kicking Shining's weakened body off of him before glancing unconcerned at his wound. Before Shining's eyes, the injury closed itself, not even leaving a scar. Sombra grinned. "Are you finished? Good. My turn."

Seconds later, Shining found himself flying through the night air, having been blasted through several palace walls by the evil tyrant's attack. The Crystal Prince crashed into the pedestal holding up the Crystal Heart, knocking it out of place and causing a huge ruckus. His vision swirling, Shining barely registered Sombra appearing before him in a swirl of dark magic, or the Crystal Heart being enveloped by the mad king's magical aura and lifted into the air, or the terrified screams of the townsponies who had come to investigate and instead found their feared oppressor taking back his kingdom from their saviors.

Shining slowly blinked as he saw Sombra looming over him, his horn glowing with dark energy as the triumphant despot smirked down at him. Shining was barely aware of the loss of feeling in his entire body as it was converted into pure crystal. His last remaining thought was on his love, and his beloved sister, on whom he pinned his last hopes.

And then Shining Armor knew no more.

King Sombra looked down at the crystallized form of Shining Armor before glaring at the deathly silent townsfolk. "Take this lovely statue and put it in my chambers," he coldly ordered.

Two stallions slowly approached, their heads lowered in sadness and despair as they gently lifted Shining's statue and carried him into the palace. Sombra's palace. The evil king looked to his subjects, and spoke one word they hoped never to hear again, but wordlessly obeyed anyways.

"Kneel."

At last, the Crystal Empire was his again.

All was as it should be.