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.

Centuries after most of her friends have all passed away, Twilight decides to make one last trip into the past. No interacting, no greeting deceased friends, no reunion with her beloved marefriend. Just one quick glance at a life long lost.

However, for better or worse, she'll end up getting much, much more than that.

This story has a prequel entitled The Last Train Home.
Cover art by Swan Song

The Dragonborn, a legendary warrior capable of absorbing a slain Dragon's soul, and knowledge, directly, forever killing it. The Last Dragonborn had defeated the first, stopped the plans of a Vampire cult, and built his own lakeside home, before finally slaying Alduin the World Eater and fulfilling his fate. Now, after all the challenges he has faced, the Dragonborn is sent to a realm where Friendship is Magic, and there is no mead. Finally, to cap things off, he kind of... well...
Became a Dragon.

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!

In an Equestria without the Princesses or the guidance of the Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle is a researcher on the cusp of her greatest discovery and simultaneous fall from grace while finding love at the same time.

Initially written for the May/June Twiluna contest. Proofreading and idea-seeding credit goes to Pearple Prose Rated Teen for language and implied sex/violence.

Twilight and Celestia have been in a relationship for a while now, and Twilight decided that it was the right time to introduce her new marefriend to her parents. Celestia was nervous, of course, but thought little of it.

But when Twilight asks about Celestia's parents, things get far more complicated.

After all, it's always a little awkward when your parents aren't exactly ponies in the first place.

Now on Equestria Daily!

And in Russian!

Entry for the Fourth Twilestia Contest

Super special thanks to Fuzzyfurvert and Habanc for putting up with me and my silly ideas and generally being awesome, and to OnionPie and Craine for proofing.

When Luna becomes the unwitting test subject of an ancient spell she discovered, she gets more than she bargained for.

Now a male alicorn named Lucian, he is forced to wait for several months before he can go back to being the mare he once was. With the help of Twilight Sparkle, however, he realizes that his accidental transformation is not the curse he had believed it to be. Thanks to his new identity, he is able to move into Ponyville without being recognized, and gets to make friends for the first time in centuries, learning many important lessons along the way.

At the same time, however, Lucian must deal with his own long-forgotten personal demons; what can he do when his past begins to catch up to him? Can he protect those closest to him? And more importantly, can he even protect himself?

The answers, perhaps, may lie with his sister's greatest pupil... who may come to be far more than just a friend to him.

Note to readers: This story takes place between season 2 and season 3. Therefore, inconsistencies with season 3 canon may ocasionally occur. Consider it an "Alternate season 3," if you wish.

Cover by jamey4

Celestia had always thought she'd reached the pinnacle of fear when she fought against some of Equestria's greatest enemies.

As it turns out, however, nothing compares to explaining to Twilight's parents that she's in a relationship with their daughter.

Some said that I'm a Spirit...
Some called me Monster...
Some even Hero...
They were wrong. I'm just a girl that wants to get home to her family, to get her life back and if I have to carve my path with my Black Blade, then so be it!

{Character-tags will be updated with the story.}
{Currently being Edited by Tensemasterhalo.}

After nearly being mugged Twilight turns her considerable talent with magic towards self defense. When a fight with Luna goes farther that either of them wants it to, Twilight will need to find redemption in her new position as Luna's bodyguard and stop a conspiracy that wants to bring back a force more dangerous than either of them.