King Sombra survived his defeat, but just. By the time he returned to form, Twilight became the newest princess of Equestria and the Crystal Empire was restored to its former glory.

He cannot take over Equestria the same way he tried before, but he has a card up his sleeve. Twilight won't see it coming, and Sombra might gain a powerful ally in the process.

And it will all begin...with a book.

Edits on Chapter 1 done with the help of TempesttheDragnix.

Major props to InuHoshi-to-DarkPen for letting me use this. That artist is really good.

Twilight Sparkle has always been the faithful and most capable student of Princess Celestia. There has never been a challenge too great for her, nor a single villain who could shake the foundations of her loyalty. When she is sent to the Crystal Empire to complete a test, she finds herself in a comprising position.

Waking up in a jail cell, she is now the prisoner of evil King Sombra. However, not everything is what it seems. Secrets of the past reveal to show that neither Sombra nor Celestia is what history makes them out to be. Is this new truth enough to shake Twilight's loyalty for the princess she always considered to be kind, tolerant, and compassionate?

The Crystal Empire disappeared long ago during Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's quest to cleanse the land of Equestria from all forms of evil. King Sombra was a great threat to their entire world and when his defeat came about, at the cost of the Crystal Empire vanishing from existence, it brought nothing but a whole lot of good to the world.

What they didn't realise however, was that Sombra had survived their confrontation and was now plotting his revenge against them both in the one way he knew how.

Twilight Sparkle thought she was the luckiest filly in all of Equestria when Princess Celestia asked her to become her personal student, but she had no idea she'd be a pawn in a game nopony is even aware exists.

Source for art: https://www.deviantart.com/dipfanken/art/Domesticated-626423587