Hollow Shades is a small farming and lumberjacking community, a tiny bubble of Equestria smack in the middle of the Everfree Forest. Things have been hard-going since the lumber mill was closed down by its aristocratic owner, and the town is slowly dying. The fate of the town weighs heavily even on the town's youth, with young filly Corn Crib of the Harvests being intimately aware of the fact things aren't going well for her family and friends. And then, a ray of hope comes into her life when she encounters a most unusual figure on the road nearby; a talking scarecrow, one that claims to be Lord Barleycorn, the King of Autumn, who promises to help her however he can. Can the two of them succeed in breathing life back into Hollow Shades?

This is a lighthearted story that contains lots of OCs and an original setting. The mane six will appear, but not until later chapters.

First time featured was May 23, 2014! I can't believe it! Thank you everyone! =3
Now with its own TVTropes page!
Picture was made by my friend Escopeto. He did a fantastic job of representing my story.

Inspired by 'Shouldnt have enslaved humanity', written by NoobMaster69, as well as a Hearts of Iron 4 mod called 'Beyond Earth'.

Special thanks to karnazom for proofreading.

"Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plain of dignity and discipline." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Humanity is surprising in many ways. When most expected it to die out from infighting and chaos, it somehow survived, and now, it thrives. Global conflicts, economic and ecological disasters, near-extinction level events and collapses, all of them overcome, all thanks to the undying spirit and will of Humanity. Every challenge thrown their way has been overcome, and they have endured.

However, when a cataclysmic event of immense proportions approaches Earth, Humanity must find a way to preserve their race. And when they re-emerge from the remains of the old world, they find a world not just foreign and unknown, but hostile to them. But like the legendary Phoenix, through it's ingenuity and unity....

Humanity shall once again rise from the ashes.

After the 'Canterlot Wedding' incident the Changeling swarm was scattered across the land, enslaved by pony warlords and slavers beyond the borders of Equestria. Weak, desperate and with only a dozen changelings to her name, Queen Chrysalis resorts to summoning one of the most obscure creatures in mythology; a human.

Thanks to zinger906 for giving me the idea for this story.

Fruit Punch, formally known as Mob, has ended up in Equestria somehow. No rhyme or reason to it. Oh by the way, he landed in the Great Galloping Galla, the first one since Princess Luna’s return... his presence may have fucked with the timeline a bit.

Takes place in an alternate universe where Celestia and Luna used the Elements of Harmony to slay King Sombra.

Celestia and Luna are no more. The sun and moon have collided, and the heavens torn asunder in the aftermath of their final battle. The Elements of Harmony are missing, presumed forever lost. The fiends of Tartarus are on a rampage, and no one can stop them. And to make things perfect, the ruler of the nation of Boardor has decided to invade.
Desperate, Clover the Clever's last living student gathers together 108 virgin mares, in order to perform a ritual that will revive King Sombra. They succeed... kinda.
A human, in King Sombra's body, suddenly finds himself in an Equestria in a downward spiral with a bunch of technicolor ponies begging him to save them. Convinced that he's either dreaming, stoned, or insane, he tries to go along with it as best he can, although the voice in his head, a very angry voice with a hunger for conquest, crystals, slavery, and stairs, isn't doing much to instill confidence in his own sanity...

New Cover Art By Shadow Bolt!

Today was a shaping up to be a bad day, Apple Bloom had been running for her life in the Everfree forest. Now she didn't even know if she was even in the same forest anymore. She had never before seen trees so tall, and never before had she met something so strange.

Something ancient.
Something overflowing with old and powerful magic.
Something green.

A new pony has arrived in Ponyville on the day of Summer Sun Celebration. Who is he? He's nice but when the residents of the town learn more about him, even more unanswered questions seem to pop up.
Can anypony figure out this mystery?
Probably when they actually ask the right question.
Are they going to?
No
Will he interfere with events?
We'll see.

This is just an idea I had and wrote by hand (later edited onto a computer) in a matter of a few hours. I have no delusions that this is a perfect story. Just some fun I had when writing out ideas. For the most part it will focus on different ponies crossing paths with him as the series goes on and not directly follow him. This IS technically a Human in Equestria story but by no means is he ordinary, both in body and mind as you will notice in the first chapter. He WILL be unrealistic, so please no comments about him not reacting to the situation like a normal person.
As for the back story of the character, I had originally included it but at second glance, I felt it would be better for both people inside and outside of the story to figure it out.
The amazing artwork was done by Mix-up. You can check out his other artworks on his Deviant Art page.

"Ponykind must have run out of colours when they finally got to this pony. Everything from his mane to his ass was all seven colours of gloom and doom. He was so dark and brooding he probably ate glittery emos and shat vampire bats.” - Quote of the Week

1000 years the ponies have prayed for a saviour to deliver them, whether it was their long lost sun goddess Celestia, or even Nightmare Moon, maybe even the chaos lord Discord, anypony! After suffering under the yoke of a tyrant god for so long, they decided any saviour will do, even a dark demonic overlord. One unicorn sorceress finally decides to take matters into her own hooves. She sets out to the frozen ruins of a long lost Empire in the Crystal Mountains bearing a grand sacrifice of 1000 ponies in an attempt to summon the dark demonic overlord of the Crystal Empire.

When the dark ritual turned up a blank, the universe decides to shuffle in the next best thing. Will he rise up to the expectations of his newfound flock? He'd better, and quickly, for the tyrant god's inquisition is out to get him and the 1000 'blasphemers' involved in his summoning. With a nation to build and an evil tyrant god to fight, never has there been a taller order to fill. But it's alright, he's a dark demonic overlord, right? He quickly finds that with some smokes and mirrors and the help of 1000 very magical ponies, anyone can look the part, even an entirely magic-inert pizza delivery dude.

Now a long-haul fic! Many thanks to everyone who convinced me to make this a reality!

Many many thanks to the Editing team, Dumbgamer99, Not A Hat, and Brad The Brony. Be sure to thank them by checking out their pages!

Our lovable number one overdude assistant, Crystal Heart, now has a musical theme, aptly titled 'Dual Core A.I.', kindly provided by AdmiralTigerclaw! Epic now comes in an entirely new flavour! Many thanks!

Somebody kindly messaged me and told me I should announce here that the story was featured from 27 - 30th of April. I completely missed that but many thanks for making that possible, everyone!

Cover Art: Placeholder drawn by me. Will be a background for a full cover at some point.

King Sombra’s dark influence was obliterated by the Crystal Heart, and the villain is well and truly dead. But when he attempts to steal the afterlife of an innocent victim, a human spirit is left hurtling towards Equestria, where this unfortunate soul is revived into the only vessel available: the reconstituted body of King Sombra himself.

Thus, a cheerfully oblivious alien is crammed into the form of the most evil and malicious being Equestria has ever known. Not that Shining Armor and Cadence know this, of course. As far as they are concerned, the King is back and he’s lost his fricking mind.

Click here for the TV Tropes page!

Okay, I don't know if anyone can hear this, or read this, or whatever, but I'm trying my best to use Pinkie Pie's legendary fourth-wall-breaking powers to try and get a message out.

If you can hear this, I need help. I'm in Equestria, and man, this is strange. But I'm also stuck in Pinkie Pie's body, for some reason.

Yes, it's just as weird as it sounds. And now, I need your help... because all the ponies in this town think I'm crazy!