Author's note: this story is still undergoing occasional editing as I figure out what the hay I'm doing. Some scenes may be added, modified, or removed.

Two months ago, a changeling posing as Rainbow Dash tried to abduct Twilight. Nopony was hurt, but Twilight became a bit paranoid--how could she make sure something like that wouldn't happen again? The best thing she could think of was to invent a spell, empowered with her full might as princess, that would forcibly remove the disguise of any changeling in the vicinity.

It's testing day, and Ponyville's about to get twenty percent buggier . . .

AU taking place between seasons 3 and 4. Trigger warning for one scene of implied dubcon.

The sequel to Wayward Courier. Read that first, or you'll get lost.

Two months after his first visit to Equestria, Thomas has returned. And this time, he's not alone!
Now the ponies have to deal with not only him, but a depressed snarky ex-Scribe and a Brotherhood Ghoul with her own list of incredible achievements and emotional baggage.
However, things aren't well in Equestria, as they quickly find out...

All major details relating to Season 3 are non-canon to this fic.

After sealing himself within the library Atlair is left with only himself, and his thoughts. As his vision fades his mind wanders throughout his memories. Although he has few regrets, and experienced tragedies no man should go though he has strived to live and serve. He is not proud to have ended the lives of his fellow man, but for the sake of the innocent his creed pushed him to serve the innocent and protect The Holy Land from invaders.

Life slowly fleeing from him, warmth long ago abandoned him, weakened and weary his breaths are dwindling. Grasping the Memory Seal he makes his last prayer before his grip on the slate is lost. Blinded by the coming fog he silently awaits the embrace of death, but at his final hour the mystical artefact glows. And from the glow a power of unknown proportion is activated, and released. Unknowingly Altair is transported from his library and awakens in a whole new world.

The power of the artefact has mystically changed the Master from a dying old man to a healthy younger pony. Quickly adapting to his new body he explores, and operates among the people in secret. At first glance it seems that the skills that Altair has obtained throughout his years will not be needed in the peaceful Kingdom, but as he continues his investigation he slowly uncovers that greed, and corruption is within the hearts of a select few Ponies in power. Without anyone else knowing the truth he embarks on a secret crusade against the corrupted branches of Society and The Government.

With little to no allies, and many enemies it all seems impossible, but his will prevails.

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So, what can a person who's hyped up on coffee and is tired as to all hell can write? Well, quite a lot of words were written so there's quantity... but the quality? No idea, eh.

Oh hey, I has a vunderful editor now, eh. Firestreak2018 is such a beast and is totally better than me when it comes to writing and editing, eh.

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!

Twenty years before the Summer Sun Celebration that would set Nightmare moon free, Princess Celestia and thousands of other ponies simply slumped over dead with no explanation. A new lavender Alicorn with a magenta colored starburst cutie mark appears suddenly and takes the throne on virtue of her being the only one who can now raise and set the sun. Twilight, now calling herself Penumbra, is the only one who remembers the normal history of Equestria and her friends from Ponyville. Accompanying her are a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane, known as Spectra, and an orange earthpony with a blonde mane called Malus - her daughters who appear to be some mix of their mother Alicorn and two unidentified regular ponies.
Now, on the longest night of the thousandth year, Luna has returned to Equestria, free of the Nightmare and her own powers mysteriously drained.
Soon Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter, and Vinyl Scratch, a down on her luck DJ, find themselves on a quest to assemble the Elements of Harmony while being forced to evade Penumbra and her children.

Special thanks to:
-Timefather64 for helping me make this idea not a bad one.
-Jonshine for writing the line in his own story that in the end inspired this idea.
-OrphiusOlyandra for pre-reading and helping me be a less awful writer.
-AlicornPriest for pre-reading and giving me pointers on grammar.
-Slayerdarkcross on deviantart for letting me use his image. You should check out his other stuff.

So, I was wondering, as I'm sure many were, why Luna didn't ever turn up during the battle against the changelings. This idea effervesced into my twisted mind to explain her absence. Luna knew exactly what was going to happen, and needed to be in a position to play her part. Sorta-maybe-dark humor. Probably more funny in my head. Also, an excuse to dump random head-canon into text.
And what to do when you have a story you want to post but no picture for it? Why, crop a screen capture!
Update: Not complete after all! Why have Princess Luna troll one villain when she can do so much more?

This story is a sequel to All things evil

Everything had gone according to plan... Twilight was saved, Nightmare Moon was defeated and The Elements were victorious.

Or so they thought.

Following the recent incident, Nightmare Moon strikes again, intent on revenge. Putting her grand scheme into motion.

The pieces are set, but which side will checkmate the other? Read on to find out!

In order to make sense of this story, I highly recommend reading 'All things evil' prior to reading this. The reason being one of the characters (Lunar Eclipse). It gives a basic understanding of the character and the story is also a prequel to this.

Link to pic

Why it's on hiatus here

In a remote village, ponies begin to disappear. Celestia sends Twilight and Fluttershy to investigate, but one of them already knows more about the situation than she is willing to reveal. At the same time, Celestia herself is about to complete a plan she has been harboring for a millennium.

Now with a prequel.

The words flowed across my tongue and out of my lips smoothly. They felt right, they felt... correct.

I felt the familiar thrum of magic throughout my body, a wondrous feeling, a beautiful feeling. It started as a warmth, then a tingle, then a flood of sensation... different feelings based upon the essences of the magic.

The pulsating purple shimmer surrounded my horn, and began to illuminate the different glyphs and geometric patterns I had painstakingly drawn out for the last few hours.

In my past I endeavored to force my magic, to bend it to my will for my own needs, but now it came effortlessly. Softly, gently, the magic lifted me up from the floor. I had closed my eyes previously in order to lessen the sensory input that could distract me, but now I opened my eyes to watch my ascent.

A faint haze encompassed my vision, but rather than clouding the objects around me everything was sharpened, brightened. I could see the aura of each object glowing faintly, and see the ordinarily imperceptible ley lines that connected everything.

I continued to chant, taking in the aromatic scents of fragrant herbs and incense, feeling the light tickle of the supernatural currents that danced through the air around me, tossing my mane this way and that.

I raised my forelegs forward, leaned my head backwards for the final words of power. I filled my lungs with air to expel that last essential command...

...and something went horribly, terribly wrong.

A cold, calculating assassin is teleported to the magical land of Equestria due to the unstable powers of the siren, Lilith. Will our awkward, haiku-obsessed hero be able to adapt to the Magic of Friendship, or will he simply end up murdering everything in sight like he's used to? Let's hope its the former.
Only one thing is truly known, this was a challenge he was NOT prepared for!

Borderlands/MLP crossover. Challenge Accepted.

Cover art by steptrool on DeviantArt