Princess Celestia is a living legend, but much of her life is shrouded in mystery. Records have long since been lost to the decay of time, and the tale of her triumph over Discord has become a fable. The Princess's memory of the event has long since faded... or has it?

Her faithful student lending an eager ear, Celestia recounts the true story of a war-torn Equestria, the struggle against Discord, and the early years of her own life.

Before she was the Princess of the Sun, she was merely a stranger.

(Featured on Equestria Daily!)

This story is a sequel to Upheaval: Breaking Point

Following the events of Breaking Point, Twilight Sparkle and her friends discover that Equestria's demise may not come from an enemy invasion, but from within. The Barrier Lands and the Heartland begin the slow and uneasy process of reuniting into a single Equestria, but this long-delayed joining is already in danger at its conception.

With Celestia's power in her grasp and her agents by her side, the wheels of Black Rose's plans for Equestria's future continue to turn. However, her brazen gamble has done more than just bring down a centuries-old barrier. Ancient powers begin to stir: the remnants of a dark period in Equestria's history, the immortal inhabitants of Celestia's homeworld, and a rising tide of darkness coming ever closer.

Twilight Sparkle wakes up one morning to find she's undergone some changes. She shortly discovers she wasn't the only one. (New cover art by Jamey4 on deviantart http://jamey4.deviantart.com/)

Warning, this work of fiction contains multiple fourth wall breaks, massive silliness, and more than a trace amount of alicorns.
The author may or may not have snapped at times in the writing of this work, and it shows. Bring a towel, you may get wet.

What if Rainbow Dash had been present when Discord gave the Mane Cast their first shot at him? How could things have gone different? How could this have changed things?How could this have changed Twilight?

Update Schedule Below the Break.
Now with the super editor FredMSloniker!
Now with a wonderful cover image by Conicer!
Also - Awesome Fanart - http://nyuuchandiannepie.deviantart.com/art/Discolight-273099814

Update Plans
December 11 - Edited versions of first four chapters
December 14 - Chapter 5
Future updates at least 1 time per week.
Total Planned Chapters - 12

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!

Meet Daymos. He's just like any other pony in Ponyville.

He works.

He plays.

He has bodies in his basement.

Okay, maybe he's not like any other pony.

But he's only trying to help.

He's a killer with a conscience and murderer with morals.

So if you end up on his table... You probably deserve what's coming.

Author's Note: Okay, this is going to take a while... I have a HUGE story planned for this thing and it's going to take a while to write it all. But I feel like if I write like 3000+ words a week, I can make some headway on it. Now, about the story. It's not exactly a crossover; it's more of an 'inspired by'. One day, I started wondering how a Dexter-esque pony would play out and this spawned. I wanted to submit it to Equestria Daily... But I kept feeling like their requirements were so arbitrary and restricting. I almost dropped it because of all the tiny little nitpicks. So, here you are. Unabridged, unabashed, unedited. Enjoy.

After failing to stop Nightmare Moon in the ancient castle of the pony sisters, Twilight Sparkle is left with a scar that will permanently change the rest of her natural born life. As Twilight recovers from her ordeal, she finds that she is left with a difficult choice. Either live her life as a lie or sacrifice her innocence to protect the ones she loves. The path before her is set and she must now walk it alone. The sands of time continues ever onward, with everyone already trapped in its muddy depths. The sun will rise and the sun will fall. Waiting for its call, Death awaits for all.

Tags, rating, and characters can change.

Art created by:
http://cuteskitty.deviantart.com (top)
http://ventious.deviantart.com (bottom)

I just put the two together

The star system Omega Centauri was just another oddity on a map to scientists in the not too distant future. However when they found the star was orbiting an earth-sized, earth-like planet instead of a black hole as its motion had suggested, a mission was scrambled to investigate this most unusual of celestial behaviors.

Hamstrung by politics, and nearly crippled before it began, the 'Lone Ranger' mission was reduced to just one crew member and left to his own devices.

These are the logs of Arrow 18 and its lone commander. This information is classified TOP SECRET by the Global Space Agency.

Do NOT tell the princess.

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!

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.