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.

Following the return of the Crystal Empire, Twilight begins some intensive research into the history of the Empire and its late king. Modern historians know next to nothing about the enigmatic dark mage. Who was he? Did he have family? Loved ones?

The answers to those questions changes everything the Element of Magic knows about herself, and in doing so catches the attention of a shadow that yet clings to the frailty of life...

Cover art made by Skijarama!
Reading can be found here.
Edited by RC2101_Copey.
Featured on 20/10/2018.
Russian Translation: Here

A Diamond Dog king, feeling bold after gathering an army of 100,000 dogs, decides the best way to flex his new muscles would be to invade Equestria for past perceived slights. As such, he sends a letter to Princess Celestia with a declaration of war.

It goes about as well as you'd expect.

A note written in an unknown language. An escaped Nightmare bearing gifts. A young colt afraid of the dark. A pegasus in search of a predator.

It's that season. A collection of short stories celebrating that weird, creepy, beautiful holiday we call Halloween Nightmare Night.

Includes Marginalia, winner of the spookest October Writeoff in Writeoff history.

As the elements were unleashed, the Nightmare knew it was over. But it would not let it's fun end. No, it would not be left behind. It would find another world to bring to ruin. As for the poor sap that was left in It's place? He was going to get blasted, what did it matter what he ended up getting from It?

Cover Image by NetherWalker

Realized there was no link, so I'm adding two, one here and one in the chapter. After the events of Don't Underestimate the Power of a Bored Mare , the juicy bits that I cant put in a T fic: Defining Love

Edit: I swear, half of you are uncultured heathens. The thing in the image with the Nightmare's hair is a substitute doll

The wheels of fate turn in mysterious ways. When a unicorn colt has an accident on the edge of the Everfree, nopony knows who he is. Assuming his brain was jostled by the accident, they ignore his absurdist notions of not being from this world, and not being a pony at all. However, when he is involved a terrible incident that threatens the lives of his only friends in the world—Ponyville's three most rambunctious fillies—their friends and family begin to pay more credence to his claims.

For Warren Ashland, the clock is ticking as a chain of events that was set into motion the moment he woke in Equestria comes to a vicious head. The time will come when he must decide whether he wishes to stand alone as a human in the Equestrian world, or give it all up for his newfound friends. His actions will shape the lives of those around him.

Cover art by - GMEiden

Vermilion didn’t join the Guard to be a hero. He just wanted to escape the farm and his old, boring life.

But now it seems he may have no choice – his unit is being sent to Hollow Shades, a tiny hamlet hidden in the depths of an endless forest, to fight monsters on behalf of Luna and Celestia. When the mission turns into a disaster and the town is lost, Vermilion finds himself at the forefront of an unexpected war, with all of Equestria at stake.

A new dark age has begun. Heroes must be found to guard the flickering lights of civilization. And Vermilion and his friends will discover that monsters are the least of their worries.

Set in the years before Nightmare Moon’s banishment, The World is Filled with Monsters follows a young hero and his friends as they struggle to protect a newfound nation – and discover the cost of greatness.

Art gallery:

Fight!

Vermilion

Cloud Fire

Zephyr

Quicklime

Rose Quartz

Canopy

Luna

Tartarus

Derecho

The gang

Marvelous Needle (Zephyr's spear)

The Nightmare

I still can't believe it all started with a family camping trip gone wrong. One moment I was enjoying my time with my parents and brothers, then next thing I knew I was stranded on a world full of magic and mythological creatures. In one day, I went from worrying about the upcoming calculus test to worrying about my next meal. I remember how the only thing keeping me going was the hope that I might find a way home. Little did I know that some deities had other plans in store for me.

I remember all the promises I made, both those kept and betrayed. I remember the friends I made on my little adventure; the same friends I threw away when everything came crashing down. Oh, the memories I made... Oh, the memories I am now forever cursed to remember.

I suppose this is a just punishment. My only regret is that my friends may never hear my side of the story.

Set between Seasons 2 and 3 // Some deviations from canon post-season 2 due to when this was originally started.

Pre-read, Cover art, and Audio Reading provided by: Skijarama

Based on Visiden Visidane's Upheaval series, which begins in Breaking Point, this story is non-canon with that story but written as a fan tribute to the series. I highly recommend checking out the canon series if you're a fan of adventure and military exploits.

Equestria is a peaceful realm, but one that has been kept in the dark about the price of that peace. The Heartland, as it is called, has been protected for generations by the Barrier Lands, a realm outside of Equestria that is occupied by ponies who make up a large army known as the Legion, controlled by the brother of the Princesses, Prince Terrato. This Legion has been fighting an ongoing war for centuries against a host of deadly enemy species that would gladly destroy Equestria if not for the Legion's efforts to keep them at bay.

After a series of events leads Twilight Sparkle and her friends to discover all this, the Barrier Lands and the Heartland are reunited, and the peaceful Equestrians told the truth. However this reunification is not entirely smooth and has with it a terrible price of its own; the draft. Equestrains who have never known a day of violence in their lives must now serve in the Legion, whether they want to or not.

Trixie Lulamoon, Blossomforth, and Coco Pommel are three such ponies, drafted into the Legion and sent to the Western Barrier Lands, where the dangerous bear-like race known as the ursans rule a vast realm of mountains and forest. Though their posting at Beartrap Fortress is meant to be a quiet one, out of the way of the main fighting, these three mares suddenly find themselves stuck in the forefront of an unexpected invasion. Ursans gather in numbers not seen in centuries under the rule of a new warchief, and it seems Beartrap Fortress is directly in the path of this new assault.

To make matters worse it seems there is an even deadlier new threat lurking in the shadows behind this invasion, one that could change the very dynamic of the Legion's struggle to protect Equestria.

Can a single company of raw, inexperienced Equestrian draftees make a difference in such a battle? Its time for the Legionnaires of Equestria to find out what they're made of, one way or another.

This story is a sequel to Lingering Shadows

He broke her heart once already. Luna learned her lesson when Sombra last tried to manipulate her, and she wants nothing more than to forget about what happened and put it behind her.

Sombra cannot forget, nor does he want to. Regretting what happened between them, when the chance to make things up to Luna comes from some very unexpected sources, he takes the opportunity and wants to try to court her properly.

But once bitten, twice shy, as they say. Will the two ever find happiness with one another?

I have to offer a huge thanks once again to everyone who read the previous story, Lingering Shadows, and encouraged me to go ahead with my idea for a sequel. Apologies for the wait, but here you have it at last. I'm going to try to get on a regular update schedule of at least 1-2 chapters a month with this one.

A huge thank-you to Kelisah of deviantART for graciously allowing me use of her artwork as a cover piece for this story!
8tracks playlist: https://8tracks.com/yoru-the-rogue/midnight-radiance