King Sombra is on the verge of enslaving the Crystal Empire; the guards are under his control, the royal baby is in his grasp, and the royal couple are at his mercy! So why is a baby laughing at him?

Twilight seeks out Sombra's horn after his defeat to study it but quickly finds herself studying with him once she finds the horn. Despite Sombra safely residing inside his own horn, Twilight learns that he is slowly dying.

How will Twilight behave once she learned of Sombra's fate?

The original cover art was done by a friend of mine, Ablaze Emblemier.

The redone cover art was drawn and colored by, Elu.

Thank you both Ablaze and Elu.

This story is a submission to the Dear Love: A Beautiful Discord writing contest.

Twilight has given you a new book to read. Well, she didn't exactly give it to you, you actually just found it in the back of the library. Behind a shelf. On the ground. It looks very old, downright ancient, and it smells like moss and rot. The binding is a little cracked, and there's no title on it. You can't help but wonder what might be inside, and the only way to find out is to keep reading.

Just turn the page.

You can do that much, can't you?

Please?

WARNING: This story contains brief depictions of blood, mild violence, and death, and has ARG aspects to it. It plays with formatting, and includes images. Some "pages" are long, some are only a few words. It is written in first person, to you, the reader, and is a slow mellow horror. You've been warned.

This story relies on unusual formatting for some parts, and thus may not be as enjoyable on a tablet or phone, or if you have specialized custom Fimfic settings.

If you post spoilers, hints, or answers in the comments, please be sure to spoiler them out or warn others. You don't want to ruin the fun, right?

Audio reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28TqbHFchLg

Years before the liberation of the Crystal Empire, King Sombra invites six citizens to feast in his castle on the last night of each month. Seldom few are ever seen again. Now a young pegasus who will become known as Guest Number Five has been invited to dine with the King, although his own plans for the night might just lead to everyone's salvation.

Five courses. Three chapters. Served up over three nights.

Sombra has been defeated, wholly and utterly. His forces broken, his last redoubt falls. But Celestia shows him mercy. Instead of Tartarus, or the cold Void, she exiles Sombra to a remote island off Equestria's coast. Given the empty title of king of this small swath of land, he now spends his days looking back on his former glory. This is just one of those days.

Inspired by Napoleon's exile to St. Helena.

Written to celebrate 200 followers.

The day of the Canterlot wedding came and went and the Changelings triumphed over all. Chrysalis should have felt satisfied with her victory, but still something large looms over her, while unexpected feelings have made themselves known. But what are the odds of the defeated stallion who could barely look her in the eyes ever returning such love? Maybe tonight that would change.

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.

A short trip around the block ended up turning quite a bit different. The Doctor and his three friends find themselves on the threshold of the Crystal Empire, 1000 years ago when still ruled by the evil King Sombra. The Doctor strangely enough does not want to stay and investigate why they are there but before they can escape they are captured and imprisoned by the evil king.

The Doctor's friends, Private Iceland, Dew Doe and Foxy Stripes are separated from him and must face the fearsome tyrant alone, wondering how the Doctor knows him and this land that from their perspective doesn't even exist in their memory. A difficult journey is ahead for all four as they must escape the tyrant and his web of fear and hate.

This story is part of The Equestria Tales series, although set in an alternate universe.

From the perspective of some of the characters, only season 1 and parts of season 2 have happened. The crossover tag is on due to the use of elements from Doctor Who.

Cover by Silhouette

Parts of the story edited by Hail King Sombra.

After yet another threat from Equestria threatens the wellbeing of Canterlot High and its students, Principal Celestia invited Princess Twilight and Sunset Shimmer for a simple discussion on what to do.

Between a less-than-willful princess, a frustrated teenager, and the wizard that crashed said discussion, she will find herself wishing she had kept her mouth shut.

We all have that one pony in our lives.
Somepony to watch over us.
The one who is always there for us.

Very special thanks to Overlord Neon for the cover commission. http://overlordneon.tumblr.com/

As featured on Equestria Daily March 13th, 2018.

Audio rendition created by Star912 is available here.