When King Sombra returns, a shadow of his former self, he must work to recover his memories and discover what horrible creature did this to him before exacting his vengeance. Now, Twilight Sparkle has to find a way to save her assistant from his own nightmares.

Inspired (loosely) by:
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
and,
Bram Stoker's Dracula

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This is sort of an experimental fic for me. I started writing this a few months ago when I was reading some darker stories from the period of Romanticism for my English class. It's experimental because, I'm trying to recreate the same style of literary writing from the period of Romanticism. Lots of emotion and spontaneity essentially. Whether or not this works, I don't know. This story is probably going to get a lot of hate because of this writing style but, if you would be kind enough to tell me what you didn't like instead of me just assuming you're a random troll, that'd be great.
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NOTE: Some of the scenes in this story are not going to be so much filled with gore, but more just disturbing, so read at your own discretion. Or don't. I'm not the boss of you.

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!

A thousand years after the Princesses disappeared from Equestria, Twilight Sparkle meets a lost Cloudsdale scout named Rainbow Dash. Together they look for a way to end the thousand-year night and dispel the darkness that has spread across Equestria.

Edited by Pascoite
Contains fairly mild grim-dark. Inspiration taken from the Dark Souls games, but it's not strictly a crossover.
Chapters titled "Arc #: Chapter Name" are part of the main story. Chapters titled "Character: Chapter Name" are one-shots about other characters, set in the same world, and aren't necessary in order to follow the main story.

Princess Twilight Sparkle discovers a centuries-old mystery hidden in the Royal Archives. Her investigation leads through layer after layer of deception and misdirection, setting her hooves on a path that seems to be leading to a mysterious secret. Along the way, she learns that some friendships can be very, very strange.

Book 1 of the Alicorn Adventure series.

AUDIOBOOK by VisualPony
Featured at the Royal Canterlot Library
TV Tropes Page (Courtesy of Sandtalon)
Goodreads Page (Courtesy of Facedeer)
Equestria Daily Page

WARNING: Major spoilers in the comments. Takes place several months after the end of season four. (Not a Da Vinci Code crossover, BTW!)

Do you see a dark tag? No, you don't. Not dark. Well, okay, there are a couple of dark-ish bits, but that's all. Not enough to warrant a tag. Speaking of tags, there really ought to be "Badass Twilight" and "Friendshipping" ones.

Sequels and side-stories (and more) can be found here Offprint and AO3, and a hardbound two-volume set of all that can be ordered from The Ministry of Image.

My editor for the first edition of this story was Gogito, and I can't thank him enough for all the hard work he did. My editor for the revised version was PresentPerfect, and he did a terrific job of getting the story into excellent shape.

The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony failed to stop Sombra in time from getting into the Crystal Empire and acquiring the Crystal Heart. Now the Crystal Empire is ruled over by a tyrannical unicorn, that will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Equestria is on the brink of war, and the only ones who can stop the evil king of the Crystal Empire, are six mares. Those six mares are the Element Bearers, but can they use the elements while one of their own is missing and in fact within their enemy's grasp?
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This story is a pickup from Pat_Hoof_5000, with his generous permission of course. I aim to finish what he started.

Collab with the awesome pony known as LightningBass94

That Romance tag isn't there for the reason you probably think it is.
Also, this story was added into groups that it no longer fits into. It was added to these groups by the previous author.

This story is a sequel to The Ultimate Alicorn

For thirty years, Twilight Sparkle has ruled Equestria single-hoofedly. For thirty years, she has managed the sun, the moon, the weather and the production of food all over Equestria. For thirty years, she has barely aged, with the combined might and extended lifespans of the deposed former triarchy, and the power of the Alicorn Amulet in her possession.

While the self-appointed Queen of Equestria continues to hold the population in a vicegrip of fear, and the land and seas begin to deteriorate, a secret uprising will form. Unbeknownst to Her Absolute Majesty, new foals are growing and developing their natural magic in secret. After a vision of the future by their mentor, and aided by an elderly recluse, a small band of young fillies and colts will scour the land of Equestria and beyond in search of the one remaining method to restore the world's magic.

Equestria has had enough. The reign of the ultimate alicorn must end.

Winner (long-runners category) of the Twyrant's Kingdom Competition.

Pre-read by JustAnotherTimeLord, The Albinocorn, NightWolf289, PaulAsaran, Comet Burst, MissingLink, Dash The Stampede, and FamousLastWords. Edited by NightWolf289, JustAnotherTimeLord, and Dash The Stampede.

Now featured on:
Fimfiction.net Feature Box (08/01/14)
Equestria Daily!

Rated teen for violence and dark themes.

This story is 100% approved by Twilight's Library!

Darkness can be in a heart and nopony will ever find out what the mare is truly about. So they cry over a mystery that can be solved until a clue arises and the heart is revealed. A mares heart can be as black as night and a cold as ice. The dark secret will ruin everything, you love dear. It depends on what you do when someone finds out what you've done will you redeem yourself of cast you self into the deepest part of the shadow. A choice can change everything and if you choose wrong you can throw it all away all your hopes. Can you truly be as black as night even if you repent? Cast away everything. Cast it all away for power. Power is a motive to do everything. The word Power who would be a princess when they could be a Queen?

Huge thanks to the editors, Twilight Shine, BlackRoseRaven and, Honest Wisdom

Twilight always knew and believed the stories she'd been told. Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, King Sombra. But when Princess Celestia thinks that Twilight is ready to know about the truth of Equestria Twilight may never trust anypony ever again.

Twilight Sparkle has failed at getting the Crystal Heart in time, letting the former king, who enslaved the entire kingdom over a thousand years before, return to take over the Empire.

Now, with the Crystal Heart permanently gone, Twilight is now bound to King Sombra for all eternity...

Because of this, it even left the only pony who can save her, her loved ones, and the empire, powerless against him.

Inspired by THIS image!!!!

Cover art by SapsDrow

Now with Dramatic Reading by ME!!!

Twilight Sparkle has obtained the combined power of all four princesses of Equestria. Wielding this power, she confronts Lord Tirek, but the result of their fight is a tie. When he holds her friends hostage, she is forced to make a difficult choice.

All is not lost, however: one force remains in Equestria that could give her the edge she needs to defeat her foe, save her friends, and restore the world. She need only retrieve it from Zecora and place it around her neck...

Runner-up (one-shots category) in the Twyrant's Kingdom Competition.

Story inspiration: Corruption of a Desperate Mare, by Chris Wöhrer.

Edited by NightWolf289, AugieDog, and Prak. Thanks also to Pascoite for his WRITE review.

Rated teen for gore and dark themes.

Featured on:
Fimfiction.net Feature Box (05/12/14)
Equestria Daily!
The Royal Guard's Fic Spotlight #10.

This story is 100% approved by Twilight's Library!
Approved by Nonpareil Fiction!