Everypony knows which princess watches over their dreams. She is the one who they pray to every night, wishing for their rest to bring comfort rather than suffering.

One night, other duties exhaust her ahead of time, and the princess falls asleep on the job. Nopony is there to watch over her.

What does she see?

Dramatic reading by Wandering Pony here: (link)

Diamond Tiara is the perfect little girl. Pretty, sweet, kind, caring...

At least, that's what the adults think about her.

In reality, Diamond Tiara is none of those things. She is conniving, abusive, temperamental... and that's on a good day.

When a magical being of evil promises Diamond that her wildest dream will come true, all of Ponyville is in danger.

Kind of.

Nightmare Moon has returned from her thousand years of banishment on the moon.

These thousand years have not been kind to her.

She decides to sell the idea of Eternal Night instead of trying to take over the world.

Nothing will go wrong.

Set in: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Part One. Not to be taken seriously.

Thanks to Petrichord for some of the ideas in this story!

Credit for art goes to Silfoe. Art is used without explicit permission, and I will take it down if the original artist, Silfoe requests it.

It was your average Christmas Eve night on Privet Drive, and Nightmare was walking through the house when she heard a noise coming from the sitting room. Of course, she just had to go and check out what was going on herself.

Considering what happened, perhaps she would have been better off just having ignored it...

Orphaned from birth, with only the memories of a soft touch and gentle voice to remember her by, Twilight yearns for her mother. What pony wouldn't want to know why they were abandoned, why they were left to be found by the Princess of the Sun herself.

That was nearly two decades ago though. Twilight was older now, and hopefully wiser. She is happy with her two best friends, Cadance and Shining Armor. They are like family to her, the brother and sister she never could have. Though dreams still haunt the young mare, dreams of lullabies and tender kisses, she has moved on.

The personal servant to the Princess of Helios, the land of the Sun, Twilight enjoyed both rank, and knowledge. But it also means that when Princess Luna comes to visit her old friend, Twilight is given the task of tending her. The Princess has come in search of marriage, at the behest of her ruling Council. They demand an heir to ward off the potentially catastrophic attacks of the neighboring dragons.

Soon, Twilight will be tested and tried. She will be given the a choice between the life she has known, and the duty she is sworn to. But never, not once, will she forget.

For who can stop loving their mother.

Celestia reflects on the night she lost everything.

Off shoot of: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - Off the Record.

After several nights filled with horrible dreams, Rarity comes face to face with the dark side of her soul in her sleep, as it attempts to convince her that she is truly a horrible pony on the inside.

During this battle within Rarity, the entity that once controlled Princess Luna takes notice of her momentary weakness, and decides to use the opportunity to seize one of the Elements of Harmony, as to guarantee her safety from being sealed away once again.

However, the overflowing dominance from Rarity and her dark side, starts to crawl into Nightmare's mind, making her question whether or not she should continue with trying to conquer Equestria, or perhaps take a different route.

Cover art here! It was money well spent!

http://jinzhan.deviantart.com/art/Nightmare-Rarity-440977340

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?

============

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!

...
Well, I could place here a normal story description. But if I had to guess, we’d say you already know what we mean if here simply stands ‘HIE as Nightmare Moon’.
...
What? Too meta? The only meta thing you can’t write here is about the real world.
...
Original (HTML & epub).

Tags: < MLP:FIM | Sex | Anthro | Human | OC | Nightmare Moon >
(Sex only implied, and NOT a main aspect in the story.)

As the elements were unleashed, the Nightmare knew it was over. But it would not let it's fun end. No, it would not be left behind. It would find another world to bring to ruin. As for the poor sap that was left in It's place? He was going to get blasted, what did it matter what he ended up getting from It?

Cover Image by NetherWalker

Realized there was no link, so I'm adding two, one here and one in the chapter. After the events of Don't Underestimate the Power of a Bored Mare , the juicy bits that I cant put in a T fic: Defining Love

Edit: I swear, half of you are uncultured heathens. The thing in the image with the Nightmare's hair is a substitute doll