Before night's arrival, Celestia and Luna discover a ball from when they were young. It brings back tons of memories.

<My first shot at a fanfic! Please give me feedback.>

Finally, after years of begging, Celestia gives Twilight permission to access the Forbidden Wing of the Royal Library, a wing so secret even the other princesses can't access it. Twilight rushes to Canterlot, excited for the research potential.

Then she finds those books…

(There's an FAQ here. Please read that before commenting.)

Everyone has nightmares. Some are about our worst fears coming true. Others are bad things happening to the ones we love.

Princess Luna has been freed from her nightmare come true of being Nightmare Moon. Yet even with things seemingly returning to normal, all is not right.

And some nightmares can return in unsuspecting ways...

When Twilight is awake, Celestia is her teacher, and she a faithful student. But when Twilight shuts her eyes, another mare approaches, who teaches her a very different lesson.

An experimental fic, written to play around with alternative perspectives. Be warned, ye who enter here.

Long ago, the founders of Equestria built a magical portal on sacred ground, hiding their greatest secret on the other side. Generations of leaders stepped through the portal so that they might emerge as the equal of their forebears.

Celestia and Luna were the last to enter. For a thousand years, the portal lay forgotten, its purpose lost.

Luna thinks it is time that Twilight learn what it means to rule.

There is now a Spanish translation of this story, courtesy of Spaniard Kiwi

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!

Derpy and Luna swap jobs for a day.

Celestia hasn't taken one day off since she banished Nightmare Moon all those years ago. Its hard to believe, but when you had to rule a kingdom by yourself for a thousand years, it becomes second nature to never stop working.

But Luna thinks she would benefit from spending the day with her as sisters, the same way they did when they were fillies. It would nice to get out of the castle for a day, letting their manes hang loose. And so Celestia takes her up on the idea.

At the same time, Celestia has been experiencing nightmares about a certain day of her life. It continues to haunt her, but she doesn't know why for sure. Maybe today, she can get past it...

Cover image by Dragk.

WARNING: There is no clop in this story. I just used that image because it matches a scene at the end. Its more like snuggling your favorite pet. And this has an Everyone rating anyways, silly filly.

Twilight Sparkle has too much magic, and it will take her decades to learn to control it. Her spectacular loss of control during her entrance exam only proves that fact. She is a danger to herself and others.

After Sunset Shimmer’s disappearance, Princess Celestia needs a new student to bear The Element of Magic to defeat Nightmare Moon. With all of Equestria at stake, Twilight Sparkle…is not the pony she needs.

Princess Celestia seals Twilight Sparkle’s magic with the distant promise of one day teaching her.

But there are two diarchs of Equestria. Amidst a lucid dream, an offer is made.

“Hello, Twilight. Would you like to be my student?”

Cover art provided by Lafiir.

Batponies are a mysterious race, spoken of in hushed tones and in dark corners. Most ponies don't even believe they exist, and the batponies wouldn't have it any other way. However, when one is caught in the dead of night, she'll lay the foundation for her kind's place in Equestria with a few words.
And a simple gesture of trust.

A short story written for Equestria Daily's Batponies Writeoff!