Twenty years. Twenty years spent sitting on a stone plinth, with birds getting absolutely everywhere. That kind of experience can change a pony, or a changeling. As long as she stays ahead of the newspapers and mail service, that story might even hold up.

A story about grudges, love, and the power of unremitting hatred.

No particular reason for the T rating, just covering my bases with how much Chrysalis teases ponies.

Special thanks to everyone who reads my works, follows me, or just happens to look at this -- you deserve to be happy too buddy, just like all our little buggy friends and even Chrysalis herself.

Written as my entry in FanOfMostEverything's Imposing Sovereigns II contest.

[Complete! With TVTropes apparently!]
Also, apparently, an animated trailer.

In a world of brass and steam, Twilight Sparkle had thought she had made a life-changing discovery with the invention of the telescope. For better or worse, she was correct.

Now her discovery has not only changed her life, but the lives of those she seeks out in her desperate attempt to contact the only other creature as lonely as Twilight herself.

It all would have been much simpler, but it had to be the one Twilight could only call The Mare on the Moon.

Decidedly not within walking distance, then.

[Featured on EQD before story was meant to be submitted. 4/03/2015]

[Editing team: Southpaw, Wolfvenom, Maskedferret, SwanSong and BluePaladin42, without whom this story would be a fraction of its current state.]
[Special thanks to Novel-Idea for the updated cover]

Failing once in her attempt to take Canterlot and failing again in her attempt to take down Twilight, one would think Chrysalis would have cut her losses and let things be, but the queen has once again appeared, this time in broad daylight with no disguise and no army. Her weapon of choice? Diplomacy.

Now Twilight is having to deal with the changeling queen, but surely putting up with her antics will be worth the knowledge she's willing to provide about her mysterious race and the potential undiscovered agents still within their midst...right?

Takes place before Magical Mystery Cure and diverges from there.

With thanks to MisterGunpowder for proofreading and editing.

Revision History:

05/09/2015: Chapter 1 updated with millions of little corrections.
05/20/2015: Chapter 2 revised and edited with another million small and large corrections.
06/12/2015: Chapter 3 given a thorough editing and revision.
06/23/2015: Chapter 4 taken to the gutter and edited twice to be sure.
07/14/2015: Chapter 5 thoroughly brutalized with the editing stick.
08/03/2016: Chapter 6 finally edited. Yes, I'm still alive, dammit.
09/29/2016: Chapter 7 fell out of the editing tree and hit every editing branch on the way down.
10/26/2016: Chapter 8 has emerged from the editing emergency room.
11/17/2016: Chapter 9 found and edited. No casualties reported.
11/30/2016: Chapter 10 treated for whiplash after lightning fast editing.
12/22/2016: Chapter 11 edited. Chrysalis shot first.
01/17/2017: Epilogue edited. Time to hit the cider.

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!

A young woman catches the eye of a stunning vampiress and finds herself transfixed, longing for the undying embrace of Twilight Sparkle, the former Regent of the Night.

Inspired by a conversation between Monochromatic and myself ages ago.

Preread by Meridian Prime.

Cover art (added late because I'm a scrub >.>) by GlancoJusticar.

As Twilight deals with life as the head of a nation and the responsibility that comes with it , she must also deal with her secret relationship with a certain moon goddess. As they face various issues from the get go. Including intense media and public scrutiny, a commitment to her friends and family, the complexities of the Equestrian political system and Luna's struggle to find peace with herself and her faults.

With a political crisis brewing on the horizon, Twilight must come to terms with her position quickly while also coming facing a daunting task in the form of reconciling Luna and Celestia's damaged sisterly relationship. In the end she'll learn that being royalty isn't all what it is cut out to be.

I highly recommend reading the first story. It's not completely necessary but it will be easier to follow the plot.

Sequel to Learning curve

My second attempt at romance with Twilight and Luna. Starts off as fluff in the begining but develops a political side story as the chapters go by. The story mainly focuses on Twilight and Luna and the issues they deal with after Season 3. Written before season 4 so it may not conform fully to canon. May fix this in a later rewrite. Criticism is once again welcomed.

During the entrance exam to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight completely loses control of her magic. Celestia tries in vain to calm her down, but having no other choice she's forced to use a shrinking spell on the filly in order to tone down her dangerous surge of power.

After the exam, Celestia takes the tiny Twilight as her personal student to teach the young unicorn control over her powerful magic, making sure that she will pose no threat to other beings.

Will tiny Twilight be able to step out into a world designed for someone far larger than her? And will her size impede her in the trials of life as princess personal student ?
Side stories: "My Little Twiny April Foals Day" and "My Little Medic"

[img]https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/109x149q90/138/zvuu.png[/img] [img]https://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/136x137q90/843/7m25.png[/img]

Sub-autors:
Kydois (Audience <3!)
Georg

Editors:
kingtiger666
Ultra1437
Frozen Ice King

Pre-reader:
Rated PonyStar

Twilight Sparkle is the prized student of Princess Celestia, two-fold champion of Equestria, bearer of The Element of Magic, and general mare of renown. But we are all a product of our history and Twilight, along with the whole of Equestria, is no exception. When she is asked by Princess Celestia to look into an strange new field of magic, our studious heroine will get to learn first-hoof just how fickle history, and how important its quirks, can be.

I got this idea after cruising DA and seeing that there was a rather appalling lack of Solar Flare fan content. Since I'm about as talented at visual art as Stevie Wonder, I decided to go with the written word as my medium. Also credit to http://emeralddarkness.deviantart.com/ for the cover image

I'd really appreciate feedback on how I can keep improving, so feel free to point out any errors in the comments. I'm looking forward to continuing this story despite my poor work ethic, so updates might be a bit slow. Regardless, I hope you enjoy what i have so far.

And with that I proudly present, What Might Have Been

Stories of Twilight getting up to mischief as a filly.

When Twilight is awake, Celestia is her teacher, and she a faithful student. But when Twilight shuts her eyes, another mare approaches, who teaches her a very different lesson.

An experimental fic, written to play around with alternative perspectives. Be warned, ye who enter here.