The Crystalling 2.0: Sombra's True Return

Everypony freezes in their spot as King Sombra continues his greeting; "Aw, what's the matter? Why such disappointed and despairing looks? I've been looking forward to seeing all your pretty faces," he says condescendingly.

"Where is he?" Rainbow Dash shouts and shoots up in the air from somewhere among the crowd, "Lemmeattim! Lemmeattim!"

The voice of King Sombra chuckles, "Don't be so keen, young one," he says threateningly, "I'm much stronger than I was the last time we met, and as much as I'd love a little - excitement - I'm afraid I've returned on a different note."

"Just try us!" Twilight joins Rainbow Dash in the air, "We've beat you once, we can do it again!"

"But how, though," Sombra begins to ask, "when I could be standing right - next - to - YOU!" and he suddenly appears in the middle of the crowd. Many of the ponies surrounding him quickly back away, but just as quickly as he materialized, he disappears into the shadows once more.

At the sound of another shuddering BOOM!, chaos ensues as everypony panics and races about the room, trying to escape to the safety of their homes. Shining Armor and Starlight are jostled back and forth as they try to meet up with the rest of their friends amidst the screaming crystal ponies.

"Where did he go?!"

"Why is he back?!"

"Where can we go now?!"

"WHERE'S MY TEDDY BEAR??!!!"

Starlight and Shining Armor eventually find Applejack and Rarity trying to calm everypony down. "Alrigh' ev'rypony!" Applejack shouts in vain, "Now, um. .let's all just, uh. . .get outta here in an orderly, um - fashion, er-"

"Oh, forget about it Applejack, it's useless!" Rarity says, having similar luck as her friend.

"Where are the others?" Starlight asks them above the noises of the crowd.

"Fluttershy and Pinkie are currently trying to corral Rainbow Dash back to her senses," Rarity explains, "Twilight and Princess Cadence, however," she adds, "we lost track of them after King Sombra appeared."

"Waht do you mean, lost track of them?!" Shining Armor exclaims, getting close to Rarity's face, "WHERE'S MY WIFE?!" He frantically scans the scrambling guests, looking for any signs of his family, "TWILIGHT!! CADENCE!!" he calls out numerous times, but realizes that his efforts prove futile against the surging crowd.

"Maybe we should check her room," Applejack suggests as Fluttershy and Pinkie make a crashing appearance with Rainbow struggling against their hooves, "If I were a princess in danger, that would be the first place I would think to hide myself." So the group races up the stairs to Cadence and Shining Armor's room; upon their arrival, they discover that the door to the room is locked shut.

"Y-you don't suppose. . .t-that h-h-he's got," Fluttershy says nervously, but is interrupted when Shining Armor starts throwing all his weight against the door in desperation.

"OH - NO - YOU - DON-!" he shouts with every push until the door comes crashing down, revealling a pile of various pieces of furniture blocking the entrance. The ponies scramble inside and breath a collective sigh of relief to see Twilight and Cadence huddled together on the other side of the room, unharmed. Shining Armor gallops over to them and embraces his wife in a fierce hug.

"I thought I lost you to that monster," he says, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, dear," Cadence says, grateful for her husband's concern over her safety.

"How the hay did y'all get up here so fast?" Applejack asks, "and have the time to block the door?"

"As soon as Sombra disappeared," Cadence explains, "Twilight teleported us both up here and barricaded the door with pretty much everything and anything heavy enough. But, I guess it wasn't enough to keep back my husband, let alone Sombra himself," she chuckles, which turns into a pained moan.

"What's wrong, honey?" Shining Armor asks worriedly.

"I-It's nothing, really," Cadence winces, "Just a small cramp. I guess this is just a little too much excitement for the baby to handle," she adds light-heartedly.

"That's an understatement if I've ever heard one," Rainbow Dash mumbles to nopony in particular.

"So, what's the plan, Twilight?" Pinkie asks enthusiastically.

"Why me?" Twilight asks, taken aback by the sudden address.

"Well, you beat King Sombra before, so you must know how to beat him again! You said so, yourself!" Pinkie continues, bouncing around until Applejack stops her.

"It was the return of the Crystal Heart that defeated King Sombra last time," Twilight says, "but unless there's been anything wrong with it this time, I'm not entirely sure why he's back."

"I'm sure if anypony noticed anything wrong with the Crystal Heart," Cadence says, "they would have surely come straight to us, but nothing like that's happened."

Suddenly, the door to the bedroom crashes open again; everypony turns on a dime to see Sunburst, panting, standing in the doorway.

"There you all are!" he gasps, "I've been looking for you ever since Sombra showed himself. I thought you might have been taken!"

"Don't worry, Sunburst," Starlight reassures her old friend, "We're all okay - for the time being, at least."

"How are the crystal ponies?" Cadence asks Sunburst.

"Things have gone quiet for now," he explains, "Almost all the guests have run back to there houses; there are only a few stragglers still huddled together in the ballroom."

Cadence strides forward as best as she can, an look of fury crossing her face, "I will make him pay for what he's done to my-ugh!" she groans as another cramp hits her stomach.

"You're not going to do anything so long as I'm here," Shining Armor says sternly yet affectionately.

"Maybe we should start with another visit to the Crystal Empire Library?" Rarity suggests, "We did find a lot of good information about the empire's past the last time Sombra appeared."

"You're right, Rarity!" Spike exclaims, a little too enthusiastically, "The collection's probably been expanded since the empire's return, too!"

"Sounds like a plan to me," Starlight agrees, so the Mane 7 prepare to head out. Shining Armor is initially reluctant to join them in favor of keeping Cadence and the baby safe, but he eventually complies when Sunburst and Spike promise to guard her with their lives.

As the group gallops through the town, they realize that the fear of Sombra's reign is still within everypony's minds because the streets are devoid of any movement, as the crystal ponies are boarded up in their homes.

"Geez, youd think that somepony's threatened to kill everypony in this place," Starlight comments as they gallop down another eerily quiet street.

"Well, this is King Sombra we're talking about," Shining Armor replies, "so, you're probably not far off from the truth there."

"I just wish there was a way we could get their spirits rejuvenated again," Rarity says, "That's how they defeated him the last time, right?"

"Yeah, but the Crystal Heart's not missing anymore," Twilight answers, "I'm sure something in the library will help us defeat Sombra this time!" So they continue on; when they reach the library, they walk in with little issues, considering all the librarians are huddled in a corner for protection.

"Okay everypony, split up!" Twilight commands, "We're looking for books, pamphlets - anything - that might be about the empire's history under King Sombra. Meet back here with whatever you've found in fifteen minutes!" and with that, everypony goes their separate ways. What they do not realize, however, is a cluster of seemingly sentient shadows following each pony through the never-ending shelves of the library.