Frozen to the bone then heated with a fire from within, Celestia cracks and Luna is the witness. Luna offers forgiveness, but is Celestia too hardened to accept it... or give it for that matter?
[The idea for this story was developed before the canonization of Nightmare Moon's banishment]

The Tantibus: A magic seemingly made by Princess Luna to torture herself for her crimes as Nightmare Moon. Why would she do such a thing? How would she do such a thing? Only one pony knows, and she is finally ready to talk.

There once was a story about the beautiful dark alicorn who moved the moon. In the tranquil countryside, a young boy listened to the story, looked at the stars, and imagined. He grew up and fell in love with the ruler of the night … and she loved him, too.

It was perfect, except for one nagging doubt in the back of the quiet boy's head: she was a character from a children's story.

Winner of the Writeoff Association's "Written In The Stars" competition! ** Featured on Equestria Daily ** Featured by The Royal Guard (twice! )

Rated ★★★★★ by Louder Yay! "This is, perhaps, a Lucky Dreams story for grown-ups. ... Plenty of magic and friendship here, but also sadness and loss ... a clear classic."

Highly Recommended by Present Perfect! "An excellently written story about an emotional encounter between the titular characters … yet a good bit more than that. If you like reading, you will like reading this."

Recommended by Titanium Dragon! "This story had an excellent style to it, a sort of fairy-tale-like quality … really, this is a work of original fiction which pokes at MLP in only the barest of ways. But that doesn't mean it isn't relevant to your interests."

Art: Assembled by me. Luna vector by azur-wing.

Many ponies leave out cookies on the night of Hearth's Warming Eve. It's tradition, after all.

It's been a tradition for a very long time.

... and learns important life lessons, somewhere in between everything going wrong.

* * *

"The first thing I thought upon reading Hitchhikers was that the gods of ponyfiction … had smiled upon me." – Ezn
"Congratulations, you have written the first 'Proper Noun Verbs A Noun' story that does not actively disgust me." - Prereader Benman

Principal Celestia always has wings in her dreams.

They got her into trouble, once. She let herself believe that they meant she was an angel. Then she grew up, and learned some hard lessons about what being an angel really required.

Now six magical girls have just fought a demon in front of her school. And her phantom wings are itching.

Her life is turning upside down ... and she hasn't even heard about Equestria yet.

Rated Highly Recommended (Top 15 Stories Sitewide) by Present Perfect! "It's f**king flawless, you guys. … The first [6]00-word chapter by itself is a masterpiece."

"Literally the single best EqG story on the site." —Professor Plum
"[One] of the best stories on the site, period." —Pearple Prose
"One of my all-time favorite pieces of fanfiction." –brokenimage321
"My favorite EQG fic of absolute all." -Skywriter

Rated Why Haven't You Read This Yet? by PaulAsaran! "I might have been skeptical going in, but horizon knocked it out of the park."

Rated 5/5 by csquared08! "The opening chapter here was truly something else. ... Then I hit the end of chapter 3. holy crap."

Rated ★★★★ by Louder Yay! "A lesser writer might have made a horrible, cliché-ridden mess of this story, but fortunately horizon is not a lesser writer. For a start, it's by some distance the best portrayal of the human world's Celestia I've read."

Third place in the "Under the Sun" June 2017 Writeoff!  (That first draft has been revised and expanded for FIMFiction.) Praise for the Writeoff version:

"Holy cow ... That's how you write an EqG fanfic! You captured the heart and SOUL of this/your version of Principal Celestia, wrapped it up in bi-universal consistency, and sold me on an idea of redemption I didn't even know I needed." —Xepher

"This is gorgeous. A thorough, exhaustive, incredibly moving portrait of a character who I don't think I've ever seen get quite this much development or attention." —Posh

"This is actually, after all these years, an original take on a story on Luna's banishment. If that's not something to be celebrated I don't know what is." —Quill Scratch, Radio Writeoff

MORE REVIEWER PRAISE: Rated "Definitely Read" by Super Trampoline! Reviewed by City of Doors! Reviewed by Titanium Dragon! Featured on Equestria Daily!

Rated T for brief cursing and alcohol use. Cover art by Seniloko, used under Creative Commons license.

Translations:

中文 - 行政天使

King Sombra is resurrected from the dark magic of a gem found by Rarity. Twilight takes it upon herself, as the Princess of Friendship, to attempt to help him. However, Celestia has warned Twilight that his heart is "black as night" - can he even be saved? Should they even bother? And what of the gem that resurrected him?

When trouble once again comes to Ponyville is seems as though Sombra's time is up. Twilight must decide if he is to be imprisoned or allowed to roam free and it seems Rarity will be the ultimate deciding factor.

SEQUEL: The Umbra Queen

[Picture from Grumbeerkopp on Deviantart]

This story is a sequel to The Guardian of the Night

The newly formed Star Guard has been given an impossible task: purge the world of the Nightmare Forces once and for all.

Pipsqueak, Captain of the Star Guard and Guardian of the Night, must lead a select few through the dreams of, not only ponies, but all sentient creatures. Acting on Princess Luna’s behalf, Pipsqueak has vowed to travel the lands of Equestria until his impossible task is completed, no matter the personal cost.

But the Nightmare Forces lurk in every shadow and every dream, waiting for Pipsqueak to falter. Can an earth pony, not gifted in magic, fight against the darkness? Only time will tell.

Edited by: mikemeiers, neon scar and Greenhat. These guys are amazing.

The Royal Guard has intensified their training regimen after countless attacks on Canterlot. They’re tougher, better, faster, stronger – and, after months of hard training, they only accept the best of the best. The Night Guard, the elite soldiers trained to protect Princess Luna during the evening, are similar to the Royal Guard, only ten times tougher.

Undeterred by the challenges that await him, Pipsqueak (now a full grown stallion) signs up to join the most elite soldiers in all of Equestria... The Night Guard.

He isn’t doing it for the fame or glory. Pip is motivated by one goal and one goal only: to fulfill a promise he made as a foal. He will become the guardian of the night.

This story is technically a sequel to The Dream Stalker, but it is not necessary to read that story first in order to understand this one.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/6MrWqNZ.png[/img]
(Featured on Equestria Daily!)
(Artwork from stupidyou3 on Deviantart)

Princess Luna slips through the dreams of her subjects, helping them conquer their fears and anxieties in any way she can.

But its a thankless task... one that often leaves Luna filled with the old bitterness she once felt before her banishment. The bitterness begins to take hold until, one night, she stumbles upon a pony who dreams exclusively of her... Perhaps her task wasn't as unappreciated as she thought.

(Artwork [with permission] from NastyLady on deviantart)