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!

On a dark night filled with even darker magics, an insane cult attempts to give Nightmare Moon a body and life of her own, utterly separate from Princess Luna. But, when the spell is interrupted by Celestia, something unexpected is created.

Now, a little black alicorn filly named Nyx finds herself living under the care of Twilight Sparkle, only to be haunted by memories and emotions from her past. Is she Nightmare Moon reborn or is she simply a doppelganger with a soul and mind of her own? Can Twilight Sparkle protect Nyx from those who refuse to see past her dragon eyes and black coat?

Or, will Nyx be forced to inherit the sins that may not even be hers and become the greatest evil Equestria has ever known?

Music. Audio Shock eats, sleeps, and breathes music. Often enough, he would lock himself in his studio for days, even weeks on end, in order to feed his near insatiable thirst as an artist and studio editor. His marefriend Cloudtamer, an up and coming name in weather science has known him since their days back in Flight School, and after being reunited several years later now enjoy a healthy, almost perfect relationship. But when hidden agendas are revealed to be at play, will their relationship get stronger, or fall apart at the seams?

Written by Vermillion

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.*

[Psychological Grimdark]

This story was directly based off 'Awoken': Wooden Toaster and H8 seed's spirited successor to the Rainbow Factory.

Food for thought, folks. I wrote this story on my own time and Obab later added extra material, three years later, when she converted the story into her audio production. She did not participate in the original production (if that was not clear already). If you read the story below you'll see the original, untampered text!

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The decline into darkness had been easy enough... but when a high ranking Rainbow Factory employee begins to loose faith in the program and attempts to leave, things get out of hoof.

Having lived the majority of his life in the twisted building known as the Rainbow Factory-climbing up the brutal ladder and eventually becoming an Orchestrator-a lone colt finds the atrocity's he's committed in his past coming back to haunt him in his waking hours.

Driven by the need to return to normal society and the thought of redemption, he devises a risky plan that will ultimately decide the very fate of the Rainbow Factory as it's come to be known.

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A long list of special thanks and mentions...

Thanks to Aurora Dawn for essentially creating the world I based this story in.

Thanks to Wooden Toaster and H8 Seed for the awesome song
Thanks to Fiasko0 on Deviant art for making the picture for the song (which I snatched)
Thanks to xzenocrimzie (Starlight Sparkle) for working with me to get the story out and into public
Thanks to wandered D for the tech support (he knows what I'm talking about)
Thanks to SrPeachFuzz on YouTube for accidentally bringing the story to everyone's attention
Thanks to my brony friend Josh for helping me get the story from my head, and into an outline
Thanks to both Truesoul116 and OhOhJackarias on YouTube for their excellent readings
Most importantly, every brony out there that has read, liked, faved or commented! Without you all, this would of never happened!

*Audio books are up!

Another really great dramatic reading!

If you're looking for a dramatic reading

If you're looking for a clear and professional reading

All three of these readers were totally awesome! Thanks guys.

Now translated into:
Polish by Dolar84
Spanish by Moonlight Fan

Obsidian Shield is a pegasus on a quest to see all of Equestria. He wants to make friends, see the sights, and just enjoy himself overall. He prefers to go by his nickname, Obie. Join him as he attempts to understand how life works outside of his hometown and learn why he wants to experience everything Equestria has to offer.

Credit to Becca for drawing Obie.

In a freak accident from the Cloudsdale weather control team, Twilight is struck down by an errant lightning bolt. But the veil of death is relatively thin...

It's been a thousand years. Princess Luna is returned, and the castle staff must scramble to see that she has servants to attend to her needs, and just as importantly, that they look the part. Of course, it turns out that it's rather difficult to find competent servants on such short notice. A hooffull of servants are chosen based on their appearance and duties, and are assigned to serve the Moon Goddess as personal retainers until more suitable replacements can be found. When coloring, Cutie Mark, and chance coincide, one of the castle's junior stewards is thrust into a role any loyal servant ought to jump at: Lunar Hoofservant. Unfortunately for Nightlight, Princess Luna is far more demanding than her older sister, and being her servant means contending with an unforgiving goddess who demands nothing short of perfection. Furthermore, somepony must be responsible for the inevitable failure. The duty of "Royal Hoofservant" just might be synonymous with "Royal Scapegoat."
Saddled with responsibility far beyond his post and expected to fail, Nightlight has no choice but to quit his post or to become the servant that Luna needs. This is the story of a pony's development from colt to stallion, and from servant to leader.
Thanks much to DirePony for the editing and story direction he's graciously provided me.
Rated 'Teen' for alcohol use, mild innuendo/sexual references, and pony-swears.
Not based on the (excellent) sci-fi novel of the same name by Robert Heinlein.

With the whole of Equestria plunged into darkness, the once peacfull world is now tearing itself appart with fear. Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity and Spike are now the only hope the world has.
They choose to leave their home to save Rainbow Dash. Despite loosing their friends because of her they are determined to prove she can be saved from her madness, which is slowly consuming her. But will there be anything to save?

For so long Twilight fought to defeat the relentless parasite that had consumed Equestria with fear. She risked her life fighting for what she belived in. Her friends are now dead, her mind is full of rage and now she has become the one thing she truely despised. As she begins to slowly loose control, Twilight decides to once and for all, find whoever did this to her friends and take them down.

But will Twilight find the mystery antagonist, bring them to justice and find a cure before one of Equestria's brightest ponies is driven to insanity and Equestria's only hope for peace is lost?