Twilight Sparkle has had a crush on Princess Celestia for a very long time. When Celestia's own advice prompts her to confess her attraction, Twilight discovers a secret that Celestia has hidden for hundreds of years. With the fires of the sun itself separating them, can Twilight find a way for them to come together?

Cover art by NadnerbD

Huge amounts of editing by Jordanis

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?

============

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!

No one can make you change but yourself.

Before Nightmare Moon, before Equestria, before the Alicorn sisters moved the Sun and the Moon in the sky, there was Luna.

Luna, and Celestia. Two ponies left alone by a twist of fate that came too soon.

In order to survive, the sisters leaned on each other. They became close, closer than any sisters could ever be.

Closer than any sisters should ever be.

For the April 2019 incest contest
Special thanks to ChudoJogurt for helping me make this story readable.

Cover by Akeahi

Princess Twilight, for all of her knowledge, didn't particularly know that much about Celestia or Luna's past. In an attempt to figure out more about her peers she digs up the infamous time travel spell. Jumping at the chance to gather first-hoof about the only other immortal ponies she dives head first into the past!

Finding that she has stumbled into helping the Princesses on a mighty quest she isn't hesitant to lend a helping hoof but her resolve is quickly tested when not all is what it seems and the past, and present, of Equestria is put at stake!

Follow Twilight, and the would-be Princesses, across the world as they track down dangerous artefacts, delve into dilapidated dungeons and avoid disaster in a race against time itself!

• Romance will, eventually, be between Luna, Celestia and Twilight.
• This story will include gratuitous amounts of cuteness at times.
• There will be action and a little dark here and there, but only because it's the past and fighting does occur. It won't be a regular thing, trust me.
• There is time travel and Twilight will be jumping around the timeline. But don't think about it too much!
• The AU tag is only there due to the Princesses still being there, as well as the whole world existing before Equestria thing.
• The world this story takes place in is: Equestria and Beyond. I absolutely love the detail which was put into this. Obviously there's parts not included, such as the Crystal Empire, etc.

I'm thankful to Dusk Melody for reading through and helping me realise the direction I wanted the story to go in.

Spelling, grammar and general thoughts have been provided by TheGreatEater

The source of the image used is: Magnaluna - Eye contact

->19/10/2019
Thanks for featuring! <3 Love you peeps!

Hello, Equestria. My name is Princess Luna, and my sister is an idiot. The object of her idiocy – her faithful student, Twilight Sparkle – appears to share her stupidity. Luckily, I am here to lend them a helping hoof.

I can't really blame them, though. They're just so adorable when they're completely clueless.

100% Approved by Twilight's Library!

[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]

Some people say that Celestia and Luna are useless. That they lounge in the castle while delegating all their responsibilities to hard working, underappreciated, exceptionally well-read students. That even when faced directly with threats to kingdom and country, they fold like cheap origami and wait to be rescued.

These people are correct. But there's a very good reason for it!

[Rated Teen due to a dark scene early on to set some backstory, and occasional comedic death]

Time after time, through chaos and through wars, Princess Celestia prevailed.

Of all the terrible forces she could have fallen to, Flim Flam Industry was the last one anypony had expected.

With thanks to gardrek for editing (3-6) and PinkieDP, Ice Star, and Odd_Sarge for prereading help.

Nightmare Moon has returned. Princess Celestia lied and betrayed her star pupil, Twilight Sparkle, leaving her woefully unprepared to fight the Queen of the Night.

But when she fails, rather than disposing of her and the ponies that tried to help her, Nightmare Moon sees an opportunity and a necessity. Having been locked away for one thousand years, who better to help her solidify her rule and keep Equestria from collapsing, all while rubbing it in her sister's face, than her own betrayed pupil?

Banished to another reality by a vengeful Starlight Glimmer. Twilight ends up in a near copy paste version of the Equestria that she knows and loves…with one small difference, she doesn’t exist. Twilight played a huge role back in her Equestria. So what would happen to an Equestria that ended up losing its saviour years ago?

Attempting to figure out what makes this reality different from the one she was born in and what happened to the original Twilight Sparkle. Twilight tries to reunite with those that she was closest to and find a way to replicate Starlight’s spell to return back home. However things won’t be as easy as she had originally thought.

Though after spending time in this version of Equestria, making friendships and finding love. Will she really want to go back?

Note: More tags will be added later throughout the story when required. If a tag should be there though isn’t, please comment or DM and I will rectify this mistake.

Proofreader: Rainbow Sunbeam (chapter 5 only)