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!

Five years ago, a disaster left low-Equus orbits swamped with orbital debris. The husks of dead ships careened through the aether, threatening any that might try to leave the planet. But now, it’s under control. Debris trawlers roam the skies, picking up those husks and carefully gathering smaller shards. Thanks to their efforts, bit by bit, space is becoming usable again.

Mesonox is a newbie on one of those trawling crews, recently hired to fly on DT Heavenly View. She’s aced the sims. She knows her ships. She knows her tools. She knows her techniques. And her crew just got assigned to grab a typical wreck. It’s a straightforward job: clean up the small debris, get the large debris under control to haul back to the scrapyard. The perfect task for a rookie like her.

Time to get to work.

Twilight is invited to Canterlot to compete with some of the greatest magicians in the world for the Moonstone Cup, a prestigious award for the most powerful and skillful magicians, unicorn and otherwise. Can she win? What sort of competition will she face?

Awesome cover image was taken from NoOneBahtim

Set only a week after the banishment of Princess Luna to the moon, the realm of Equestria is in a state of upheaval. Celestia's royal guard attempt to regain control over the vast empire once ruled by dual monarchs, and the young alicorn's actions as a ruler have become a subject of scrutiny after her sister's attempted coup. Two factions have risen in the turmoil: The Knights of the Sun and The Bright Moon.

Far away from the political infighting and sword rattling exists a small mining town on the outskirts of Equestrian territory. Where once the royal guard would have no trouble fending off raids from bandits or other criminals, the panic of the capitol has caused a withdrawal of military forces to more essential cities and trading ports. Completely undefended and without a spell or sword amongst them, this town was soon overrun by a band of bi-pedal canines calling themselves the Diamond Dogs. As brutal as they are lazy, the Diamond Dogs have forced the local population to work until collapse to collect gems from the town mine.

Outraged by his inability to fend off these bandits and thieves, a young unicorn named Bone Marrow tries with all of his might to find his purpose in life - his cutie mark - and hopes that it will be enough to drive off the invaders of his home. He will soon discover that his special talent is far more than he bargained for.

((A Sequel will begin for this story as soon as I finish I Am a Pet Changeling. Stay tuned on Discord! https://discord.gg/nDXd3AB ))

Everything got so much worse for batponies after Nightmare Moon was banished. Even those with no involvement in the war, Equestria turned hostile. Instead of a loving home, Mira grew up as an orphan, cowering in terror from the advance of Princess Celestia's Golden Army.

In the shadowy caverns of Understory, the ancient arts were still taught: Dreamwalking, and all the 'dark' practices that were once fundamental to the bats' reverence of Princess Luna.

After the death of somepony close to her, Mira finally resolved to do something. She didn't have the power to fight against Equestria, but maybe she could do something else.

With the forbidden knowledge of the sleeping world, she could rescue Nightmare Moon, and save batponies everywhere from extinction. That, or die trying.

Updates Wednesdays.

Originally written as a Patreon reward for TyrannisUmbra on my Patreon.
Editing by Two Bit and Sparktail. Cover by Skydreams.

This story is a sequel to Message in a Bottle

For numberless eons, Equus hosted primitive civilizations, ignorant of the proud achievements of their ancient race. In their simple lives, ponies and other creatures could grow without fear of alerting any of the terrible forces that grew in the galaxy beyond. All civilization had been extinguished by forces beyond comprehension. If they made too much noise, Equestria would be next.

Then came James Irwin, with the truth the Harmony superintelligence that maintained the vast Niven Ring had already known: the galaxy was safe again, and probably had been for many centuries.

Once the truth was revealed, Equestria again longed for the stars. Surely they could not be the only survivors of that galactic Red Tide that had swallowed all intelligent life. Their searching bore fruit: radio signals from a nearby system.

Felicity was the Alicorn chosen to captain that mission of discovery. She would bring the pony gift of friendship to a fellow survivor somewhere out there. That was the plan, anyway.

Unfortunately for Equestria, intelligence does not imply friendliness.

A tale of understanding and discovery set in the world of Message in a Bottle. Reading that story first is highly recommended.

This story was written as a Patreon commission for Lithl over the course of over two years now. It comes to fimfiction now that it is nearly finished.

Editing by Two Bit, cover by Zutcha.

Updates Weekly on Wednesdays.

[First Person] [Alternating Perspectives] [Equisverse Era 1]

(Gore tag is for descriptive combat scenes.)

Many years after the changeling attack on Canterlot, in a land far from Equestria, Chrysalis Swarm returned to it’s former strength. The swarm of vicious bandits cut a swath across the land with twice the cruelty of the time before their defeat. Countless cities, towns, and even other changeling hives fell to their cruelty and lust for power.

Amongst them was the Diamond Hive, a peaceful people of ancient and storied past. The only survivor of her people’s slaughter is a young changeling scout named Jade. With nothing save a satchel of emotion-charged stones, her mother’s sword, and a map in the form of a riddle, Jade must now journey to the one place Chrysalis's was unable to terrorize, Equestria.

The Kingdom of Equestria, a place thought to be nothing more than myth. A place where the streets are made from gold, for the very sun and moon make it their home. Only there can safety be assured, and only there can a changeling find enough love to enter her final stage of development, become a queen, and ensure her people survive once more.

Featured on Friday, September 25th, 2015 at 06:33:29 PM UTC.
and again on Thursday, November 19th, 2015 at 01:05:13 PM UTC.
and yet again on Tuseday, January 12th, 2016 at 08:26:19 AM UTC.

For my fan’s convenience: This story takes place in an alternate timeline of the Equisverse. No storyline beyond that of The Bridesmaids, Horseshoes, and Dinner at Ravenloft happens or will happen in this timeline. However, some world events, elements of the setting, and concepts from other works of mine apply, but this only pertains to concepts such as thaumaturgic current. This is the more “serious” timeline.

A changeling who has lived at the side of an Equestrian mare for most of his life finds himself in the middle of the changeling invasion of Canterlot. He has no idea who the invading queen or hive are, and just wants to stay where he is, and more importantly, who he is.

The spell that ends the invasion doesn't discriminate, though. With his old pony form irreversibly stripped away, and the whole kingdom out to hunt his kind, he tries to keep his family together, and struggles to find his place in the world.

Please comment! Even now, I'd love to hear what people think as they read through

EPUB download
PDF download

Czech version:
Flitter on Google Docs translated by Draim (published at bronies.cz)

Russian version:
Флиттер on ponyfiction.org translated by repitter.
Audio book on YouTube by Diogenus.

Spanish version:
Flitter on DeviantArt, translated by SPANIARD KIWI.

A human turned pony asks Twilight Sparkle to send him back home. Luckily, Twilight is perfectly capable of doing so. But is it really a good idea?

Lazy Pines is a small town in the high country of Colorado, easily overshadowed by the bigger sights to see along Colorado State 9. When influenza strikes the town hard, it is little more than a statistical blip in a typical flu season. No one thinks any more of it as the initial wave of infection passes ... until the other symptoms begin to manifest.

Meanwhile, during what should have been a routine trip to Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle stumbles upon a strange anomaly which turns into an all-consuming mystery. As she discovers the complex web of magic stubbornly maintaining this mystery's secrets, she grows worried what it could mean for herself and her family.

And as the residents of Lazy Pines struggle to understand -- or even believe -- what is happening to them, two worlds have irrevocably been set on a direct collision course.

Updates every other weekend.

Cover art by Mix-up. Please check out more artwork by this talented artist.

Now has its own TV Tropes page thanks to redandready45.