In the heat of the moment, some ponies have a habit of letting things out. Sometimes they are minor things that most just shrug off and forget about in a matter of milliseconds. Sometimes they are things that, once revealed, shake the very foundation of their existence.

Rarity's latest revelation falls into the latter.

For almost a thousand years, the immortal Nightmare Moon has reigned over Equestria as Empress. To the average pony, Nightmare Moon is an overarching enigma whose rule is absolute and whose wrath is terrible. But to Twilight Sparkle, who as an orphan has never known her parents, the Empress is something else entirely. When the young unicorn is brought under the royal wing as an apprentice, she learns a great deal more about the supposed tyrant than she ever knew. But as Twilight is introduced to life with her new mentor, she is thrust into a world of political intrigue, conspiracies and secrets. Secrets that were never meant to be revealed. As allies and enemies plot against the very peace of the nation, will Twilight fall prey to the perils of her new position? Or will she prosper and find in Nightmare Moon the mother she never had?

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My eternal gratitude to my editor, LordOfTheWrongs, without whom Night's Favoured Child would not be the story it is today.

Now with added TVtropes!

Twilight is invited to Canterlot to compete with some of the greatest magicians in the world for the Moonstone Cup, a prestigious award for the most powerful and skillful magicians, unicorn and otherwise. Can she win? What sort of competition will she face?

Awesome cover image was taken from NoOneBahtim

After reading a book by Spitfire's personal trainer, Rainbow Dash decides that the best way to get closer to her ultimate goal of joining the Wonderbolts is to add strength training to her practices by having one of her friends ride her. However, when she decides that Twilight Sparkle is just the mare for the job, the pegasus gets a bit more than she bargained for.

Artwork by Piggybank12. Used with permission. Thanks to DPV111 for assisting me with story planning.

Nightmare Moon visits Twilight in the night, and things get biblical.

Featured on Equestria Daily, 1 May 2012.

A short trip to Canterlot with Rainbow Dash and Applejack is the perfect opportunity for Twilight to test out her new long-distance Teleportation spell. But a nasty cold dashes the hopes of a quick trip, and makes the spell disappear in smoke: instead of arriving in Canterlot, the three find themselves in the nearby Everfree Forest, and discover that their location is not the only thing that went wrong.

While Rainbow has exchanged her wings and tail for a straw blond tail, Applejack has acquired a rainbow tail as well as a pair of strong, blue wings.

While Twilight attempts to find a spell to return the body parts to their rightful owners, the others must attempt to deal with this situation... and with their changing feelings.

Distance can drive us apart. It can also bring us closer together.

After all is said and done, and the ponies have gone their separate ways, the only way they have to keep in touch is through letters.

Original Equestria Daily post is here
Russian translation
Chinese translation
Polish translation
Spanish translation

Now with music and audiobook

Twilight wakes up with a serious head-ache caused by her horn spontaneously growing due to a sudden increase in her magical power. Nopony seems to have an answer for it, but it has attracted the attention of an unusually powerful militant foreign nation intent on her capture and execution. When a string of events lands Twilight before Celestia's father himself he tasks her and her newfound magic with tying up some loose ends he'd left behind long ago, ultimately connecting with this foreign nation's goals. With their powerful enemy baring down on Equestria, intent on taking it in a stranglehold, Twilight and her friends have little other choice than to travel the world and hunt for the rest of Celestia's family and end several thousands of years worth of feuding to prevent the war coming to Equestria before they themselves are caught.

Image Picture by Lostzilla of DeviantArt.
(find him yourselves)

Ech is a whiny bitch, but he helped edit a little I guess. (you too bats)

When a freak reading accident causes Twilight to be admitted to the Ponyville hospital, Rainbow Dash is right by her side. Compelled by a sense of duty and repayment, she takes it upon herself to cheer up her friend.

My name is Canvas. I remember because I wrote it in the corner of the white box. It takes twelve steps to get from the cot to the wall. And the lights hurt my eyes.

(Note: The story isn't in color because I decided to try this without the gimmick! But I still recommend reading the GDocs version.)