A more detailed assessment of Season 4 canon vs. Sharing the Night canon (S4 spoilers, obviously) · 5:25am Nov 24th, 2013
Okay, now that I've actually had a chance to finish watching the premiere, I can say... none of the world building really conflicts with Sharing the Night at all. Is there a Tree of Harmony in Sharing the Night? Given the origin for the elements I have in mind, there could have been, and the Everfree Forest would have been a good place for it to be, but if so, Twilight or Luna probably vaporized it 
Other than that... there might have been some implication that Celestia and Luna were not born into the reign of Discord—I'd have to go back and check. If so though, oh well.
Also, "Alicorn" magic is vague enough that I could give it a pass (Certainly, Alicorn magical essence is unique in Sharing the Night, even though I don't ascribe them any special category of spells).
All in all, other than the obvious divergence of timelines previously established (Sharing the Night takes place right before the S2 finale, basically, and nothing introduced therin exists in StN because I'd already passed the point where I would have introduced it if it did), I can pretty much approve of the S4 premiere.
Oh, and yes, I mentioned previously that Sharing the Night Chapter 9 should be up this week. The chapter is sitting at 10.5k words, give or take, but I haven't been sure enough of it to actually get it preread yet. In fact, I just today added a scene that turns a number of innocent statements I'd already written on their heads. If I can pull that off again, I'll be happy 
Anyone expecting tentacle plants based on my previous blog entry will be disappointed, though. In fact, this chapter will be fairly mellow, all things considered. It's a bit of a break before we dive into the last section of the plot—speaking of which:
I will try my absolute best to have a chapter for you all on christmas again, and if things go at all like I have planned, it'll be a doozy. Mind, my plans don't often work out, especially when they involve writing (and getting writing done), but like I said—I'll try.
Yeah, I was thinking about that earlier. If the tree was beneath the castle, AKA the location of the Everfree's newest sinkhole...
Hah!
I wish fanfic writers had courage to completely ignore new canon and go with what they originally planned all the way in. One way or the other, every fanfic is an alternate universe anyway.
Can't wait for the next chapter! Thanks for the update.
1536112 While its true that all Fanfics are AU in some way or another, you have to remember that new info can also be used to shape a story to make it stronger or more cohesive.
Yea, we didn't actually learn anything about Luna and Celestia's origins, just that they got bags from somewhere, and took the elements from the tree of harmony when they were fully grown. We can't even say for sure if they were already ruling Equestria before he got there, and took it back, or if they only became princesses after they defeated Discord.