Dragonjek's Recommendations #4

Finally time for a fanfic.

Night's Favoured Child, by Municipal Engines
TvTropes page here.

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?

Night's Favoured Child is, quite simply, one of the best Nightmare Moon/Luna-as-Twilight's-Teacher stories out there. It's also one of the best Nightmare Moon/Luna-defeated-Celestia stories, Nightmare Moon/Luna-as-Mother-Figure stories, and Nightmare Moon-isn't-Evil stories, to boot. "Benevolent dictatorship" is probably the best way to describe the relationship between Nightmare Moon and Equestria. If you're looking for evil, the Inquisitor is the pony to blame. Maybe. Probably.

Rather than the frozen wasteland you'd think eternal night would bring about, she solved the problem of "hey, this'll kill everypony" by just making a second, brighter moon (although not nearly as bright as the sun, and the best stars can still be seen). Ponies tell the time by which moon it is, and don't even recognize the words "day" or even "twilight". This understandably makes Twilight's name something of a peculiarity. Maybe the most fascinating part of the story, and something which poses a question I desperately want answered (along with "who/what the hell is the Inquisitor?"), is knowing that eternal night only covers Equestria. Other nations somehow have days, but it's pretty clear that Celestia is gone.

The story makes it very clear from the very beginning that there's something important about Twilight, far more than her simply being an overpowered little unicorn, or simply being the foal of a pair of rebels fighting to bring back the dawn. The prologue sees her abandoned at an orphanage as an infant (although considering what happened to her parents only a page later, that's hardly a crime), and Municipal Engines opens the story proper at the age shortly before Twilight discovered her cutie mark. She's got a single friend at the time--Orion (although the author has since edited Orion out to replace him with Flash Sentry (who, to the relief of many, is very clearly a brotherly figure to Twilight. No idea what happened to Shining Armor), who is the one to convince her to sneak out of the orphanage to go attend the Annual Eclipse Festival after she gets grounded to her room.

What follows a series of events reminiscent of how she was inspired to learn magic & get her cutie mark in canon, as well as an apprenticeship under Nightmare Moon. What follows is an amazing look into the history of this world, the relationship between the Inquisitor and Nightmare Moon, the politics of Equestria, and an overly-talented filly's trials in school. The characters, the setting, the tantalizing pieces of plot--all of it is absolutely beautiful.

We also get to see Trixie's mom, the WISE and WONDERFUL WILLOW! She's pretty cool, even though she gets a single chapter of screentime.