Now with a dramatic reading by AShadowOfCygnus!

Sombra.
The name that makes ponies everywhere tremble.
The name that is the definition of cruelty.
The name that strikes fear into the hearts of all that hear it.
And that's really all that anypony can say. Ponies everywhere wonder what really goes on inside the head of the legendary crystal tyrant. What dreams and thoughts of malice could possibly sustain such cruelty?

What actually goes on inside Sombra's head might surprise everypony...

A big thanks to the amazing Mickeymonster for letting me use the cover art. Check it out here!

Do you ever regret things you did in the past? Whether it was accidentally insulting someone, or waging war against a concept with chocolate rain and licorice trees? Well, Discord doesn’t “regret” it, but he can admit he made a mistake or two.

But his past certainly disagrees.

Audio Readings.
Read by StraightToThePointStudio
Read by Pony&Wolf Productions

Life in Equestria was suddenly changed when Celestia returned to the throne, demanding it back. The world found itself with the Eternal Sun, scorching the land for years to come. Though with every tribulation life will adapt. Starlight Glimmer has adapted to her new environment, despite being Celestia's number one target. She finds herself on the run, at all times.

She never knows when one of the Elements of Harmony would be after her skin. Normally a visit from her friends would be much appreciated. Though not after Celestia twisted robotics into their biological shells. Now, they serve her, forced or willing. No pony knows.

Though not all of the Elements remain. Twilight Sparkle, Luna, and Cadence all disappeared without a trace when Celestia overtook Canterlot. Starlight remains of their old friend group and she still searches for them, and a method to free the rest of her friends. Her search is cut short when an old friend comes to her in a foreign vehicle.

Sunset shimmer appears before Starlight and she is keenly aware of the situation.

This story is a sequel to Inexcusable

She looked just like Princess Celestia, except marred and broken. Her ceremonial barding had rusted slightly, and dirt matted her coat. Most noticeable was her hair; black streaks accompanied its usual multicolored luster. They looked like discolorations in an old photograph.

Worst was the scar across her chest. Her armor covered it, but nothing could hide what it meant.

The tarnished Celestia smiled at Luna. "H-hello, monster. I would say I am glad to see you, but that w-w-wouldn’t be quite accurate."

A big thanks to AlicornPriest for editing/prereading.

Russian translation by MLPMihail, with editing by Randy1974.

Comments contain spoilers. See here for a complete series timeline.

This story is a sequel to If You Came to Conquer

Princess Nightmare Moon had tried to keep it secret. She had suppressed her power, feigned ignorance, played the outdated fool at every opportunity. She should have known that something like this would happen. A threat that would reveal her, whether she played dumb or not.

If she had to reveal herself, then at least she could protect Equestria in the process. She nocked the arrow. The bow felt so flimsy, but she could not risk him absorbing a spell. She laced magic across the arrow and the string and the air, enough to make it fly faster and aim smoother. She sighted him easily; Tirek was a large target. Now he only had to turn around. An arrow to the spine would kill him simply and instantly, no matter how much magic he had absorbed.

Once he was dead, the hard part would come: explaining herself to Celestia.

Prereading thanks; Meta Four, Blank!, Yami Vizzini, and especially Craine

Russian translation by Doof
Chinese Translation by Dreams Set Free

Comments contain spoilers.

Nightmare Moon won. She defeated Celestia, broke the Elements, banished the sun. This all happened a very long time ago. So long ago, that she has had plenty of time to change her mind.

Of course, fixing our mistakes is never so simple, and never without consequences. Even with particularly potent help.

"If you came to conquer, you'll be king for a day. / But you too will deteriorate and quickly fade away."
— "No Control" by Bad Religion

A big thanks to Craine, Sorren, and Idylia for prereading and editing. If you enjoyed the story, don't forget to check out their pages.

Equestria Daily
Royal Canterlot Library (FIMfic version)
Russian translation by Doof
Chinese translation by Dreams Set Free

Kitsune Heart has done a dramatic reading of this story! Find it over here.
ObabScribbler has done a dramatic reading of this story! It includes a full cast of voice actors. Find it over here.

Comments contain spoilers.

The now reformed King Sombra and Radiant Hope make their way home to the Crystal Empire upon recovering Princess Amore's shattered remains in hopes of restoring her. However, they quickly find that the memories of not just the citizens of the Empire, but the citizens of Equestria as a whole, have been twisted, believing now that Sombra is still evil. Sombra and Hope must now restore the good king's name in order to restore their shattered princess...

This story takes place in the canon of the comics, but to keep faithful to the tradition of the comics to follow show canon, it will also acknowledge the canon of the show.

Art is a cropped edit of an image by TwitchyGears. https://www.deviantart.com/twitchygears/art/A-ponies-redemption-551142518

When Twilight is stolen from her home, fate intervenes and brings her straight to her destiny. After growing up sheltered and loved by the spirits of the Tree of Harmony, Twilight will grow into her place in Equestria like never before while she searches for the family that raised her and gets to know the one she's lost.

(Unapologetically OP Twilight, if you’re going to nitpick that point then you are welcome to leave at any time.)

Banished to another reality by a vengeful Starlight Glimmer. Twilight ends up in a near copy paste version of the Equestria that she knows and loves…with one small difference, she doesn’t exist. Twilight played a huge role back in her Equestria. So what would happen to an Equestria that ended up losing its saviour years ago?

Attempting to figure out what makes this reality different from the one she was born in and what happened to the original Twilight Sparkle. Twilight tries to reunite with those that she was closest to and find a way to replicate Starlight’s spell to return back home. However things won’t be as easy as she had originally thought.

Though after spending time in this version of Equestria, making friendships and finding love. Will she really want to go back?

Note: More tags will be added later throughout the story when required. If a tag should be there though isn’t, please comment or DM and I will rectify this mistake.

Proofreader: Rainbow Sunbeam (chapter 5 only)

Luna used to be haunted by dark thoughts of jealousy, but it was her sister who fell to the darkness first. She declared eternal day, before she was banished by the Elements of Harmony, leaving Luna to rule over the land of Equestria, alone.

Now, almost one thousand years later, Luna has taken another personal student under her wing, one with the potential for great things. Luna knows that she will greatly change Twilight Sparkle's life, but has no idea just how greatly Twilight will change hers.