After the War of the Ring and the return of peace to Middle-earth, Gandalf the White departs for Equestria to visit two old friends of his; specifically, a certain pair of alicorn sisters.

Yet he does not foresee that Equestria, like ponykind, has changed with the years since his previous visit, and so he is quite unprepared for what lies ahead. Can the Wizard endure the trials that this new journey will bring? Surely, but only if he makes a few more friends along the way.

Six more, to be exact.

Written with a heavily Tolkien-influenced style, which has been sampled by:

thefluffyone
LeJokstereerre
TheProfessor86

Countless thanks for your help, guys!

(Originally posted on 8/21/12 on FIMfiction. This is written by an author that has only seen the films and has yet to finish the books, so there may be slight discrepancies.)

When Twilight Sparkle accidentally transforms Rainbow Dash into a stallion, Rainbow's entire life is flipped on its head. He has to cope with changes in his body and his friends. How will this affect his budding romance with Applejack? Are Rarity and Fluttershy suddenly giving him the eye?
Twilight Sparkle is working 'round the clock to find a way to break the spell, but will she be able to make time for Big Macintosh?
Our heroes scamper to piece together the fragments of their lives after the events of The Prince and the Workhorse. Will the loose ends continue to fray, or will some degree of normalcy return to the citizens of Ponyville? Find out as the story unfolds in RAINBRO DASH!

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!

Octavia Philharmonica is a desperate mare. Her involvement in the ill-fated "pony pokey" at the prestigious Grand Galloping Gala has left her blacklisted among the elite of Canterlot who form her clientele. Faced with the possibility of being evicted from her apartment for inability to pay rent she decides to take a temporary job at a local nightclub. Of course, she's never set hoof in a club before and has no idea what she's getting involved in . . .

This is the story of the end. This is the story of the death of Equestria. It is the story of the reign of her royal majesty, Princess Twilight Sparkle of the Fading Sun.

The alicorn sisters are dead and Equestria has turned to Twilight Sparkle to guide it. However, just maintaining a dim sun a fraction as bright as her mentor's keeps the new princess near her limits.

Years have passed and Twilight Sparkle is sure of only one thing. Equestria is dying.

NOTE: Written before "It's about Time" in season 2. Everything after "Read it and Weep" was ignored throughout this story.

At first glance, Princess Luna's charioteers might appear to be little more than Royal Guards dressed in festive apparel for Nightmare Night. However, there is far more to the story than that - the Night Guards once played a pivotal role in the history of Equestria, and have sacrificed more for their beloved princess than most ponies are even aware of.

Princess Celestia tires of constantly being surrounded by decorum, deference, and formality, and decides to take a day off from being Princess. But visiting Ponyville incognito is harder than she expects. Will she be able to fit in and make friends without blowing her cover?

When your life is as dull a gray as the world that surrounds you, the mundanities can make it all seem meaningless. Sometimes all we need is a little color -- or six -- to reintroduce us to what truly makes life worth living.

*6-16-2017 Edit, added Rainbow Dash tag because it triggered knighty.*

Finding herself with wings and unusually powerful magic, Twilight Sparkle proceeds to have breakdown after breakdown, until with the help of her friends, she confronts Celestia and Luna about it... And learns that she's a far more important little pony than she ever imagined - for all the wrong reasons.

Awesome painting by Drezzer can be found here!

20 megapixel version is here (10MB JPEG, 210dpi strangely, 24"x20")!

Thanks, man!