The tale of an alternate timeline where the Pillars of Equestria never existed :D

• Sphinxy's reign of terror over Somnambula, the location, is never thwarted.
• She rules for thousands of years.
• She becomes bored with the ease of her tyranny, becoming more detached from "her" kingdom, demanding less and less tributes.
• She rediscovers the simple pleasure of farming her own crops.
• She ultimately demands nothing more than one token gift every full moon.
• One full moon she is gifted with a television and cable, with all the premium channels.
• She becomes enamored with game shows, how ponies play trivial games and take them deadly seriously for their chance to win.
• She realizes ponies will flock to her to answer her riddles and play her weird games for cash prizes.
• She also realizes the money such a show would make more than covers the cash prizes she hands out.
• Riddle or Ruse, where ponies are forced to either answer a riddle or play a humiliating Taskmaster-style minigame, becomes a smash hit.
• It's now been running for 41 seasons, and is both a household name and an Equestrian television icon.
• Princess Celestia's face of disgust during a Ruse, where she had to determine which cake doesn't contain dog food, becomes a meme.