King Sombra came from an old age, a time where darkness and evil were prevalent across the land. The Princesse's power and influence were weaker in those days, for the land of Equestria was divided amongst many kingdoms of lesser Princesses and Princes. But out of all their ruling neighbors, The Four Shepherds held the most power of all, even threatening Celestia and Luna's kingdom. However, all of that changed when they vanished for a thousand years, ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity. Until that is, when the Crystal Kingdom reappeared, along with one of the Shepherds. King Sombra, however, was thankfully vanquished swiftly, but the following peace of his defeat would not last as long as anypony might think. A new force sets its eyes on the recently coronated Princess Twilight Sparkle, one that seeks to restore a lost heritage and remind the land of who is the true owner of the night. For when one evil is smitten, another appears in its place. And King Sombra was only the first in line.

Set before Season 4

Note: Dark tag is meant for Light Dark

Special thanks to my editor Ladrian for his diligent and superb work. I wish I had him when I first started this story because maybe then the early chapters would have been much better.

Special thanks to Stanku for revisions and prereading this story. It would be at a much worse state had it not been for his detailed opinions to each and every chapter, and letting me know where I can improve.

10/2/2014 : Woah... it's on the featured list... *cue squealing and fist pumping* THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Princess Twilight Sparkle discovers a centuries-old mystery hidden in the Royal Archives. Her investigation leads through layer after layer of deception and misdirection, setting her hooves on a path that seems to be leading to a mysterious secret. Along the way, she learns that some friendships can be very, very strange.

Book 1 of the Alicorn Adventure series.

AUDIOBOOK by VisualPony
Featured at the Royal Canterlot Library
TV Tropes Page (Courtesy of Sandtalon)
Goodreads Page (Courtesy of Facedeer)
Equestria Daily Page

WARNING: Major spoilers in the comments. Takes place several months after the end of season four. (Not a Da Vinci Code crossover, BTW!)

Do you see a dark tag? No, you don't. Not dark. Well, okay, there are a couple of dark-ish bits, but that's all. Not enough to warrant a tag. Speaking of tags, there really ought to be "Badass Twilight" and "Friendshipping" ones.

Sequels and side-stories (and more) can be found here Offprint and AO3, and a hardbound two-volume set of all that can be ordered from The Ministry of Image.

My editor for the first edition of this story was Gogito, and I can't thank him enough for all the hard work he did. My editor for the revised version was PresentPerfect, and he did a terrific job of getting the story into excellent shape.

This story is a sequel to Tangled Roots

After Babs Seed moves in with her cousins and grandmother at Sweet Apple Acres, seven years and twenty-eight seasons of lessons about friendship, love, and the true meaning of family shape her into the mare she ultimately becomes.

What became of Babs Seed's mother and sister? Will the bobtailed foal ever see the ones she left behind again? How will the other Ponyville Cutie Mark Crusaders react to their fourth member earning her cutiemark before the rest? Is family what we are born into, or is it what we choose to create? And, ultimately, can a city-pony truly adapt to country life?

This is the second installment in the Tangled Roots timeline. "Sweet Apple Anthology" is a collection of sequential side-stories spanning across seven years after the end of the first story's final chapter and continuing to its Epilogue.

The story continues in the third installment, Severed Roots.

A big thanks to Lulubell for the awesome cover image.

Now with a TVTropes page! Thanks to vren55 for putting it up!

Rated Teen for some language, violence, and darker elements.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders know that Babs Seed was bullied back in Manehatten, but how bad could things really have been? And how does Babs feel about returning to the city and the ponies who have hurt her the most?

(Note: to avoid confusion, the first few chapters of this story deal with past events that occurred before "One Bad Apple". I will add an Author's Note to the chapter that begins the "present" state of events and continues forward from there.)

Followed by Sweet Apple Anthology and Severed Roots.

Now with a TVTropes page! Thanks to vren55 for putting it up!

Rated Teen for some violence, language, and darker elements.