Everypony knows the story of the dark king, Sombra. Raised under the care of Crystal Princess Amore, he eventually grew into a mighty stallion of shadows and took over the Crystal Empire for himself. The terror of his reign was unmatched in pony history. He didn’t take the world under his hoof like Discord, but some ponies say that the pure evil he brought to the land left a stain in the very atmosphere of the Crystal Empire, a stain that can never be wiped away.

Everypony knows the story of the King Sombra… but there’s one thing nopony knows. The fate of Princess Amore. Some say she escaped the empire during his rise, while others claim she fell the same day her lands were conquered. She wasn’t murdered, oh no… that’s far too nice a fate to be given out by the dark king. The horrors that she was put through would make the worst acts of evil that we’ve seen in our lifetime look like wearing a blanket made of puppies.

Her legs were broken at the joints, her eyes were pulled out of their sockets, and her horn was ripped right out of her skull. They say the sheer evil of what he did to her prevents her spirit from resting to this very day. They say that sometimes, deep in the night, right here in the hallways of the Crystal Palace, you can hear her moaning in pain, and in search of anything that can relieve her torment. And sometimes, just sometimes, she will open the door to your bedroom while you sleep, she will drag herself up to the side of your bed until she’s just inches away from you, and she will cry-

“HELP MEEEEEE!” Rainbow Dash screeched at the top of her lungs. Her own cry was joined by several others as several tiny pony forms darted across the cozy living room in one of the rear corners of the Crystal Palace. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo each slammed into their respective sisters, while Spike just yelped in a gulp of bright emerald fire and tried to brush it off with a forcedly casual wave of his claw. “Haha! Man, I got you guys so good!” Rainbow Dash beamed proudly as her wing wrapped comfortingly around Scootaloo.

“Way too good, Rainbow Dash!” Rarity glared at her friend. “They’re not going to be able to sleep for weeks!”

“Rarityyyy!” Sweetie Belle whined through chattering teeth. “We’re fiiine! We’re old enough f-f-for more mature s-scary stories!”

“Uh-huh…” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo moaned halfhearted agreement.

Twilight Sparkle giggled and patted Spike’s back with a gentle touch. “Yeah, maybe scary stories were a mistake.”

“I agree!” Rarity was still glaring death at Rainbow Dash. “Who tells such gruesome stories about ponies anyway? You should be ashamed!”

“Chill, Rares.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “It’s all in good fun, and besides, it’s almost Nightmare Night. Who doesn’t like a good scary story this time of year? Plus the rain makes for the perfect atmosphere.”

They could all hear the pitter-patter of raindrops on the outer wall of the Crystal Palace. It was rare for it to rain in the Crystal Empire, but they too had smoke to clear from the air and crops to water, so every now and again the Crystal Pegasii would get to work and make a lovely downpour. That it happened to happen during their trip to the Empire was simply a coincidence. Still, it left Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Starlight Glimmer, Spike, and their respective sisters sitting indoors for the day instead of being out having fun. A fact that was clearly not sitting well with Pinkie Pie.

“Hey, so what do we wanna do next?” Pinkie Pie bounced up on the back of the lone sofa with a bright ear-to-ear grin. “Anypony wanna play hide and seek!? Tag? Tag and seek? Seeker Tag?”

“I think I’d rather relax for the night.” Starlight Glimmer spoke through a slight blush as one hoof rubbed idly over her chest. “As fun as running around might sound…”

Twilight Sparkle nodded. “The storm is going to be broken up tomorrow, so it really does make sense to get some sleep tonight. We can formally begin our vacation as soon as the sun is out.”

“How can you possibly not want to run around like crazy after an energizing story like that!?” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“Oohh, pretty easily actually…” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Hang on a second…” Applejack’s ear twitched. “Does anypony hear that?”

The room fell silent aside from the gentle pitter pat against the outer wall. The sound was so soft at first that it could be mistaken for a gentle breeze, but soon it was unmistakable. A set of hooves scratched across the crystalline floors right on the other side of the door, growing closer and closer and closer. Rainbow Dash’s wing tightened around Scootaloo as the two of them moved away from the door. The sound was just outside now. They could see the shadows blocking the light in the thin gap between the door and the floor.

Suddenly the door flew open hard enough to slam into the wall and a shrill voice shrieked “HELP MEEEEEEE!” Every pony in the room nearly leapt from their skin, but Princess Cadence just started laughing uproariously. “Oh my gosh you ponies should see yourselves right now!”

“Cadence!” Twilight Sparkle blushed furiously. “I-you-I can’t believe you would do that to us!”

“Hehehe…” Cadence giggled behind her hoof. “I’m sorry, but I heard you talking about one of those silly legends the townponies like to throw around this time of year.”

“So it’s not true?” Sweetie Belle managed to avoid stuttering despite her wide eyes.

“Not even a little bit. And I should know, I’ve lived here for years.” Cadence winked. “I have never seen a ghost princess running around. I promise. Though I have seen a different princess running around.” Cadence glanced behind her with a grin as a tiny form bounded into the room behind her. “One who has been eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

“Auntie Twilight!” Princess Flurry Heart bounced off of the floor and slammed into Twilight’s chest, where she was immediately wrapped up in a pair of velvet hooves.

“Flurry Heart! Oh my gosh, you’re getting so big!” Twilight gave the bouncing girl the biggest hug her hooves could manage. “I still remember when you were googooing and growling at me like a bear! It’s so good to see you!”

“Heehee!” Flurry Heart beamed with happy pride. “Do you wanna play, Twilight!? I can get my bears!”

“Maybe tomorrow, Flurry, it’s getting kind of late right now, and we really should get some sleep.”

“Yeah, you… you do that.” Fluttershy was still rubbing her chest. “I think I might not be sleeping for a while.”

“Psh, baby…” Scootaloo admonished her through chattering teeth.

“Are you still scared?” Cadence cooed sympathetically and closed the door as she entered the room. “You know there are other legends about Princess Amore. Less awful ones.” She gave Rainbow Dash a playfully admonishing look. “In fact they say if you ask her for protection with a special ritual, she will shield you from all harm. Then no ghosts would ever be able to hurt you.”

“Really? What kind of ritual?” Apple Bloom asked.

“It’s simple.” Cadence walked across the room to a small desk with a stack of papers on it. “You cut up a doll into an image of a pony…” She magically lifted a sheet of paper and took to it with a pair of scissors. Soon she had an imperfect, but clearly recognizable image of a pony in paper form. “Then you all come together and each take a section of the doll. You chant a special phrase one time for each pony present, and rip the pony into equal chunks. And the paper chunk becomes your shield against dark forces.” She moved into the center of the room.

“Each pony present?” Starlight looked around quickly. “That’s thirteen in total.”

“Gonna be kind of a tight fit in there,” Applejack noted.

“That’s why I made the doll extra large.” Cadence wiggled the paper doll in front of them. “Come on Flurry, you can join in too.”

“Yay!” Flurry hovered up from the floor to lay her hoof against one of the doll’s legs.

Soon each pony in the room had managed to move in to grab hold of their section of the doll, though Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had to come in from above to make enough room for them all. “Now chant this phrase thirteen times.” Cadence cleared her throat. “Princess Amore, we miss you. Princess Amore, we love you. Princess Amore, we need you.” She glanced around at the gathered crowd. “Does everypony have it? You need to say it exactly thirteen times.”

“Got it.” Everypony else grumbled in their own way.

“Okay then.” Cadence let her magic fade and placed her hoof on the paper doll, now. Slowly, and in synch, the ponies began to speak. “Princess Amore, we miss you. Princess Amore, we love you. Princess Amore, we need you.” One pass at a time the gathered crew spoke the words, with the momentary silences filled only by the rain outside. As they reached the eleventh pass, a soft but distinct jolt of thunder echoed through the room, but none of them would break their rhythm.

“Princess Amore, we need you.” After the thirteenth pass, the room fell to silence once again, and each pony gave a swift tug on the paper doll. It split apart with surprising, almost magical ease, ending up in thirteen evenly sized chunks that rested easily in each of their hooves.

“Huh, neat.” Twilight Sparkle brought her piece close to her face to examine it. “I didn’t expect paper to break apart so evenly and easily.”

“It is a magic ritual.” Cadence giggled. “Now you all know for a fact that no scary dead princesses will come to scream at you in the night.”

“Thanks, Princess Cadence! I really do feel a lot better now!” Sweetie Belle coughed into one hoof. “Not that I… felt bad about it before. You know.”

“Naturally not.” Cadence gave her a knowing grin. “Now come, I’ll show each of you to your rooms and-“ suddenly she was cut off by a sharp rumbling that echoed throughout the room, as if the castle was fixing to lift itself from its very foundation.”

“What in tarnation!?” Applejack shouted in shock as she tried to keep her hooves on the polished crystal floors. “Do earthquakes happen in the crystal empire!?”

“No! They don’t!” Cadence immediately snapped Flurry Heart up in her hooves and wrapped her wings around her for good measure. “Everypony duck, it’s got to subside soon!”

“Hnnngh!” Twilight lifted her head into the air, and her horn pulsed with magic, but as soon as she felt it gather, it dissipated into the air around her, affecting nothing. “My magic!”

“Get down, Twilight!” Starlight tackled her roughly to the floor. “You may be a princess, but you’re not above being hurt by an earthquake!”

“Why isn’t it ending!? I want it to end!” Fluttershy shouted over the deafening rumble. No sooner did she finish speaking than the candles that had been lighting the room tumbled to the floor, and flickered out, plunging the room into pitch blackness.

“Everypony hold onto something!” Rainbow Dash’s last words echoed through the darkness, as if the room around them had begun to fade away altogether, leaving only the pitch black to engulf them all.

Author's Note

1: This story is based on the video game "Corpse Party" created by Team GrisGris

2: I know the comics showed Princess Amore's ultimate fate during Sombra's takeover of the Crystal Empire. Not only are the comics loose canon, but this is kind of a different take on things.