There is a secret in Equestria. A secret the newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn’t dare to believe. Like puppeteers pulling on marionettes, they have influenced Equestria for better and worse since the fall of Discord. So far they have been benevolent, but their potential for evil is vast. What’s worse, she doesn’t know their name. She doesn’t know their mission. All she knows for certain is one thing.

That they all seem to be zebra.

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!

Play this song first!

Twilight Sparkle has always been looking forward to her 21st birthday. It's the day that she's finally recognized as an adult mare, but also the day she's finally able to learn magic on the highest level. What should have been a great day though, turns out to be the most horrific day in her life. She finds a prophesy talking about the next great evil in Equestria, and it's HER! Now she's falling, slowly becoming the very evil she swore to fight against, and not even her closest friends can pick her up in time. In the end, she may even...

Apple Bloom is tired of being the last in her class to not have her Cutie Mark, but her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo aren't going in the right direction to get their Cutie Marks, and she knows it. In order to get her Cutie Mark the right way, Apple Bloom begins to have thoughts of separating from her friends, and getting her Cutie Mark on her own. But her search for her Cutie Mark opens up to a major mystery in Equestria, and Apple Bloom will discover much more than just her special talent...

friends become enemies...

destinies are revealed...

light fades into the darkness...

and through it all, a hero is born...

This is the first main story in the series.

New cover art by my friend The Spectralist.

Link to the TV Tropes page!

Celestia leaves to deal with a foreign crisis, giving her sister a chance to rule alone and become more attached to the modern world. She calls on Twilight Sparkle to advise Luna, hoping her student will be able to draw Luna out of her shell. With two major threats to Equestria already defeated in the past year, it seems like the perfect time to let Luna gain some confidence and experience in the modern world. After all, what are the chances of a third disaster occurring?

Now comes with complimentary tropes.

This story is a sequel to Past Sins

Side-story to Past Sins - Slowly, the wounds inflicted by Nightmare Moon's reign heal. Ponyville is being reconstructed, and the last refugees are leaving the castle. Nyx is with Twilight. Celestia and Luna rule Equestria and guide the sun and moon once more. Everything is as it should be.

But some things are never washed away. These are the things that remain to remind us of the past. They remind us of the good times we've had with friends and family. They never let us forget the mistakes we've made. Everyone has them. Twilight has them. Nyx has them.

And, on occasion, when you share your scars, your photos, and your trinkets with another, they just might share theirs in return.

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?

This story is a sequel to Past Sins

Hearth's Warming is a time for friends and family to come together, celebrate harmony, and welcome the new year. Nyx is looking forward to just this as she rides the train to Canterlot with Spike and Twilight. She's going to meet her extended family for the first time and wants nothing more than to make a good impression. Yet, the sheen of the holidays can't hide the trouble caused by meddling grandparents, relentless reporters, and a paranoid uncle.

Music.

It's great, right? Gets your hooves movin', your heart pumpin', really makes you feel alive. I'd always heard, felt, lived, breathed music every day, every second of my life, and I'd never even thought about it.

At least, not until I agreed to save another dimension while blackout drunk, traveled there with my best friends, almost died (many times), fought horrible monsters, met an actual living god...

And, well, there's more than that, but I'm getting ahead of myself already. For now, perk your ears, listen up, and you'll hear a story that I'll never forget. The story of the Eternal Song.

Featured on EQD.

Cover art by the amazing Turbosolid.

Four years ago Vinyl and Octavia broke up. It was messy, painful and left scars on both of them. Four years on, now one of the most successful DJs in Equestria’s history, Vinyl receives news that Octavia has been in a terrible accident. The doctors say she may never recover from her coma, but Vinyl refuses to believe them. There are all sorts of stories about coma patients who are brought back by the voice of someone they care about, right? No matter what anypony else says, offers or threatens, and no matter what it costs her personally or professionally, she is determined to stay by Octavia’s side and do all she can to wake her.

But four years is a long time, and no matter how many fairytales end with the princess waking up, real life owes no-one a happy ending.

Featured on EQD - 3rd August 2013

Now with a fabulous dramatic reading by the even more fabulous Goombasa!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPJutr2gUiE&list=UU4c-khcV1wmr1l_ZRfdp9uQ]
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibcPvvXSn8c&list=UU4c-khcV1wmr1l_ZRfdp9uQ]

*If you'd like to purchase a physical copy of this story, click here*

One of Equestria's greatest traits is tolerance. Every pony, whether Unicorn, Pegasus, or Earth, is accepted for who they are, and have their own parts to play in keeping Equestria running.

But what if an Earth pony decided he didn't want to play his assigned part? What if he wanted to rise above everyone else and become an Alicorn? Such a thing is possible... but the path to fulfilling one's dreams is never simple. Risks must be taken. Sacrifices must be made. And the question is always asked: How far would you go to get what you wanted? And would you be willing to pay a terrible price to get it?