What happened between Twilight's entrance examination and her entrance to the School proper? How Twilight got to know Celestia, Cadance, and Spike, and started on the road to becoming the Element of Magic.

Note: If you'd like more in this same timeline, a darker "flip-side" companion piece to this story can be found here: Acolyte of the Lunar Court

In addition, the Hearth's Warming tale The Night that Luna Returned is essentially a direct follow-on to My Little Student, and draws on some of the Celestia-related aspects of this story.

And Roomies explores who else might have had the room before Twilight...

In case there's interest, I've written a Making Of: blog entry, with the original outline and commentary on how this story came to be written.

"The Night is not as forgiving as the Day."
When Twilight agrees to become Princess Luna's personal student, she discovers the hard way what Luna's Night and her Lunar Court are really all about.

This story is thematically a darker flip-side to "My Little Student", but is written so that it can read on its own. Also, while for the most part this is arguably compatible with show canon, I've turned on the AU tag anyway, just to allow myself a little elbow-room for world-building.

The Element of Magic, Octavia Melody, needs help to defeat a monster that threatens all of Equestria. When only one of her friends can be there, she turns outside to bring others to her aid.

Fate (and the guidance of the Princesses) brings her the assistance of virtuoso cellist Twilight Sparkle and her wubtastic marefriend, DJ Rar-👁-T.

Of course, Princess tasks are rarely without their own unspoken machinations...

An Alt-U of one of the most unlikely Elements with a dash of gratuitous RariTwi.

Brought to you by: Secrets: A Swapped Roles Contest. Where it won!

Also now with a three part Fic Case Study by Casketbase77.

Featured on Equestria Daily on 5/27/2024 as part of 12 of the Best Fanfics to Read for Vinyl and Octavia Day!

The Elements of Harmony didn't work. Nightmare Moon won. Her beautiful night has been unending for over two years now, and her reign over Equestria is total.

Twilight and Pinkie Pie never gave up, even after everyone else did.

An infinity of praise be to Harwick for the cover art.

Twilight Sparkle had climbed to her peak. She had ascended to godhood, seized reign of Equestria.

And she had never felt so alone.

Desperate to escape her isolation, Twilight unsealed her vault and pressed a certain book back into its slot in a well-guarded mirror.

She hadn't stopped to think that after she left, the human world kept crawling on...

Updates Wednesday and Friday

EDIT: HOLY **** GUYS FEATURED 04Sep2019! First time, baby!

Proofreading: leeroy_gIBZ

After waking to a grim surprise, Luna spends the evening preparing a fitting gift for a friend.

On a cliff overlooking an ocean, Sunset Shimmer is asked an important question:

"Our little ponies. Our kingdom. Are they just as peaceful and prosperous as ever, Princess Sunset?"

Art by OverlordNeon

After the Dazzlings have been defeated, Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer have to deal with missing each other. Writing each other through the books soon leads to a surprise visit in the human world as well as blossoming feelings.

Human Twilight Sparkle is zeroing in on the sources of all those mysterious energy outbursts, eager to find out what’s going on.

When she causes an accident, Sunset and Twilight realize how precarious an inter-dimensional relationship can be, and Sunset is forced to deal with the human world's Twilight.

Sunset Shimmer recieves devastating news from her previous world of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle of the human world accompanies her on her journey back home to help support her in her time of need. Neither returns to the human world the same way they left.

Continuity: Homecoming, Origin story.

Cover by: Amber Spark

September 22, 2017 - new chapters and chapter revisions completed.

Featured December 28, 2016, September 13, 2017

When Twilight Sparkle was just a kid, her best friend was a girl named Sunset Shimmer. Though their friendship had a bit of a rocky start, they quickly became inseparable, no matter how much everyone thought of them as ‘weird’. They were there for each other.

Were.

Years after the tragic accident that tore them apart, Twilight is determined to move on from her loss, and she sets off on an independent research project to investigate the strange happenings at Canterlot High. Little does she know that she will soon come face to face with what appears to be a literal ghost from her past.

Coverart by Kare-Valgon. Chapter illustrations by Zorbitas.

Edited and Pre-read by Dubs Rewatcher, r5h, and Kalan.

Takes place after Rainbow Rocks, but was written before Friendship Games and does not take it into account.

Chinese translation

Print copies now available.