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!

While helping Twilight rearrange her lab, Spike comes across a magical powder that changes him into a pony! While Twilight tries to find an antidote, pony Spike has some adventures of his own.

(Originally posted (part 1, at least) to EqD in May 2011. I'd run across a ponified Spike picture and suddenly got an urge to write it. Another story that I tried to make seem like a viable episode)

NOTE: This story takes place in the same continuity as Appleshy, Sparkle Kitten, Trixie's Great and Powerful Revenge, and Tragic Magic. It takes place chronologically after all of those except Tragic Magic. The other stories are not required reading to fully enjoy this story (though feel free to read them anyway!), but there are one or two elements that call back to Sparkle Kitten in particular.

There really is no excuse for forgetting something as important as a hoof-written law. But Celestia forgot. And now, a thousand years after she wrote it, a law comes into play mandating that Celestia take a two-month sabbatical from her duties as Princess of Equestria.

So what happens when she has to step down for a couple months and leave Luna by herself in the bloody gladiator ring that is Equestrian politics? What happens when Celestia has to disguise herself and mingle with the populace of Ponyville without them knowing?

The short answer to that would be "a string of hilarious chance encounters, sisterly banter, romantic mishaps, and a political coup that was decades in the making."

The long answer, of course, is this story.

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Rated Teen for swearing and sexual humor.

Cover image is by enma-darei

[Canceled]
Discord was defeated. Villains always are. It’s really quite cliché.

Before he lost, he asked himself a question: what if your virtues went out of control, rather than your flaws? Perhaps if the heroes and villains weren't so clear-cut, the conclusion wouldn't be so inevitable. If nothing else, there would be some fun chaos along the way!

Can the main six find a way to undo Discord's magic, in spite of themselves and each other?

Disclaimer; I have been working on this for a while, and the writing at the beginning is not as good as the writing later. Hopefully it is not too great of an impediment to the story.

Editing by Meta Four, ocalhoun, Kuroi Tsubasa Tenshi, Sessalisk, Sereg, and JapaneseTeeth, all of whom are amazing. Go shower them with admiration!

Featured on Equestria Daily!

Alternate cover by sstwins! Unfortunately I couldn't use it since it compresses badly on fimfic, but still worth a look!

Google Docs version (contains unpublished/scrapped chapters and early drafts--if you're only interested in the finished product you can safely ignore this link)

The glamorous unicorn Opalescence is haunted by bizarre recurring dreams of a world in which she and her friends are all animals. But as vivid as these dreams are, surely they're just dreams, right? There couldn't actually be a parallel universe somewhere where they're little more than pets ... right?

In a moment of weakness, Chrysalis had more than a taste of Shining Armour's love. 11 months later, Twilight Sparkle finds herself a brand new niece by way of 'A small foal in a basket on my door step'.

Special thanks for the picture by Awilldrawforfood1
Now edited with DoomManta.

It's nearing the summer sun celebration, one year after Twilight arrived, and things are not going according to plan.
Preperation is behind schedule, supplies are still needed,
And to top it off, Twilight has accidently turned her friend's pets into ponies!
Without an easy antidote and time growing short, the mane six decide to let the pets help them in the celebration.
And they'll need all the help they can get.

Mort, also known as the Pale Pony (of Death), has been tasked to take time off from his rigorous duties of reaping souls. Seeking guidance, he is directed towards the town of Ponyville, to learn about the magic of friendship from Twilight Sparkle and her friends. All he needs to do is keep his true nature a secret. That shouldn't be too difficult...right?

Special thanks to Specter-Von-Baren and Pyrite Foolsgold for their help in proofreading and editing this story, as I really needed it. Additional thanks to Pilate, Chuckle5, Unimpressive Vagaries and Admiral Biscuit as well! Couldn't have done it without all their help!

Credit for the title card goes to Siansaar, AKA Carnifex.

For another excellent take on Mort, check out Sip's version!