(2nd Person POV) Your childhood started out just like any other. You had friends, you attended school, you had a mother and father. It was all taken away from you. You have no recollection of your childhood, only the scene of a traumatic event. Losing all hope in recovering, you leave to a small, secluded town known as Ponyville, hoping to isolate yourself. You'll find out that all you needed was a little color to revive those memories.

Edited by: Sleipnir and DoctorBrony

[Second person narrative]
[You + Rainbow Dash/Fluttershy]

You're a fast-flying, teenage pegasus colt with dreams of glory! Having just transferred to a new boarding school in Cloudsdale, you're looking forward to meeting new friends, joining the wingball team, and finally hanging out with fellow pegasi. This year's going to be so awesome!

Except you're the only pegasus around without a cutie mark. And everyone already seems to think you're a total loser, before they've even met you. And your only friend can hardly stand up for herself, much less you. And you're convinced a certain rainbow-maned mare is out to ruin your life. Yep, awesome.

This is the story of your high school days at Wingbury Academy.

Sly Clop is a laid back slacker who runs one of Ponyville's only porn shops on Soresaddle Street. He is a regular customer of Hard Cider's "gentlecolt's club", the Knife and Apple, where he regularly shoots the breeze with Rainbow Dash, who's seen better days.

One day, his only employee quits, and he's forced to hire a new one, starting a new awkward relationship with Lyra, who needs cash. What follows is a lighthearted fic with dark undertones that I hope you'll enjoy.

And if I haven't convinced you enough by this point, no, this not a clopfic.

New cover image by mickf18 on deviantART (DeusExKane here).

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!

Many years after sending her beloved protege to Ponyville, unease sits heavily on Princess Celestia's heart as her relationship with Twilight Sparkle seems to have cooled despite all they've accomplished together. On the advice of her sister, Celestia sets out to investigate and resolve the lost connection with her most faithful student. What does it mean to be a Faithful Student...or a Princess of the Sun?

Earned a six-star rating on Equestria Daily and featured on its very own TVTropes page!.

When your life is as dull a gray as the world that surrounds you, the mundanities can make it all seem meaningless. Sometimes all we need is a little color -- or six -- to reintroduce us to what truly makes life worth living.

*6-16-2017 Edit, added Rainbow Dash tag because it triggered knighty.*