Darkness is a living thing. It consumes the strong and destroys the weak, not knowing the meaning of mercy. It corrupts and devours until there is no light left within one's heart.

What happens when the young mare who wields the Element of Magic succumbs to the Darkness?

Twilight's made several mistakes over the course of her life, but each was, more or less, minor. Even turning the population of Ponyville into a mob over her childhood doll was corrected easily and forgiven quickly. But when she ignored all of her teachings and left her friends to search for the Crystal Heart alone, she made a mistake that would cost her the life she cherished. She fought fire with fire, and ended up burnt.

Cover Art by : KyssS90 on DA. :)

PPS: I need to do a full re-work of the concept in light of re-reads. Twilight's section turned out fine, but I ended up hating Luna's section and her story was integral to Twilight's. I'm also working on something else right now, so I may not have the chance to return. I'm sorry guys, but for now I'll be walking away from this one.

Evil is as evil does. Therefore, King Sombra is a monster, and there's no debating it. So when Sombra is discovered alive it should be obvious that he's up to nothing good and needs to be taken down... So why isn't he doing anything? Twilight Sparkle is sent in to try to answer this question by talking to him, while she also tries to determine what the future will hold for the ex-king. Is there even a chance for Sombra's future? Or is the shadow of his actions destined to destroy him?

Cover art by Flam3Zero used with permission.

Princess Twilight Sparkle is the only daughter of the queen of the night, Nightmare Moon, and the lord of shadows, King Sombra. She is unlike any other normal equine foal, mainly because she was born as an alicorn. Just like her parents, she has the acute ability of harnessing the full power of dark magic to the fullest of its power. Her and her parents rule the Crystal Kingdom with an iron-hoof with a strong and loyal alliance with the Griffon Kingdom. They are planning one of the biggest attacks on Equestria in over a thousand years. The great thing about their plan is, their enemy has no idea about it.

Unfortunately, they are dealing with the princess of Equestria, Princess Celestia and her most loyal of guards, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie.

The gore rating is for death and torture in later chapters. The teen rating may change depending on how I write how the death's and torture occur.
I got this idea while listening to the black metal band Dimmu Borgir with heavy rain in the background.
I DO NOT OWN anything My Little Pony. All rights to the characters and the locations of the show are sole property of Hasbro.

Twilight discovers the journal of King Sombra, and the unexpected secrets within.

A special thanks to my editor Stereo_Sub for such amazing editting.
Also a thanks to Gela-G-I-S-Gela for the coverart

Given the successful befriending of Discord, Princess Celestia deems that no longer will villains be defeated but instead reformed. While most have the chance to submit willingly or continue to fight, King Sombra is given little option. Brought back from the dead and stripped of all his powers and strength, it's all become a game of futility. Now Sombra only wishes he could have stayed dead all along.

Edited by spigo.

Equestria, known for it's love and harmony, finds itself in a war against a dark alliance that knows no bounds. All hope seems lost when a pony loyal to Canterlot is corrupted and joins the alliance. Can Equestria survive this war or will it be shrouded in darkness and hatred forever. Warning: This story is not canon. For those who dislike non-canon stories, this one may not be for you.

So many close calls, so many potential hesitations, so many things that Twilight and Spike could have done differently, and they'd have failed. It doesn't matter what they did wrong or didn't do right, only that a split-second is all the difference Sombra needed. Now, Twilight is completely at Sombra's mercy, subject to whatever mind games he has planned for her...

Recent viewing of The Crystal Empire is helpful but hopefully not necessary. Special thanks to Mickeymonster for drawing the image that inspired this story.

Twilight Sparkle has been imprisoned for the murder of King Sombra in retaliation to the murder of her own brother. Locked away in solitary confinement with no visitation for nearly half a year, Twilight begins to believe that she's all alone, that is until Rainbow Dash sneaks into her cell on Hearts and Hooves Day.

Based on real life events. Inspired by "Painkiller" as made famous by Three Days Grace, "Say it ain't so" as made famous by Weezer and "Behind Blue Eyes" as made famous by The Who. Dedicated to someone very special to me.

Edited by: Crystal Moose, and I can't even describe how grateful I am.

The cover art was drawn by me.

Story One of the upcoming Painkiller Series

King Sombra is resurrected from the dark magic of a gem found by Rarity. Twilight takes it upon herself, as the Princess of Friendship, to attempt to help him. However, Celestia has warned Twilight that his heart is "black as night" - can he even be saved? Should they even bother? And what of the gem that resurrected him?

When trouble once again comes to Ponyville is seems as though Sombra's time is up. Twilight must decide if he is to be imprisoned or allowed to roam free and it seems Rarity will be the ultimate deciding factor.

SEQUEL: The Umbra Queen

[Picture from Grumbeerkopp on Deviantart]