Past Sins

""What else can you be when the world can only see a monster?""

On a dark night filled with even darker magics, an insane cult attempts to give Nightmare Moon a body and life of her own, utterly separate from Princess Luna. But, when the spell is interrupted by Celestia, something unexpected is created.

Now, a tiny black alicorn filly named Nyx finds herself living under the care of Twilight Sparkle, only to be haunted by memories and emotions from her past. Is the filly Nightmare Moon reborn or is she simply a doppelganger with a soul and mind of her own? Can Twilight Sparkle protect Nyx from those who refuse to see past her dragon eyes and black coat?

Or, will Nyx be forced to inherit the sins that may not even be hers and become the greatest evil Equestria has ever known?

Past Sins is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic written by Pen Stroke, who was assisted by Batty Gloom. The final part was completed on Equestria Daily on the 30th of August and it has gone through 3 revisions to date. During a radio interview, Pen Stroke mentioned that the story will be revised/expanded to incorporate season 2 canon (and will most likely be posted all in one go at the end of the month), as well as the possibility of official side stories and short sequels. Also, a MST of the previously unseen, pre-revision version can be found here. The MSTing has its own entry here.

It can be read here.

"Nyx: But I’m going to show her. I’m going to do my best and I’m not going to forget a single line. I’m going to be the best Nightmare Moon I can be!"
 * Absurdly Youthful Mother: Twilight Sparkle adopts Nyx, who - if her similarity in biological and mental development compared to the Cutie Mark Crusaders are anything to go by - is equivalent to being 9 years old. If anything, Twilight is the equivalent of someone in her late teens or  very  early twenties.
 * Action Mom: Twilight Sparkle's taking Nyx under her wing arguably makes her more awesome as opposed to more sedentary. At one point she sneaks past guards through a castle, then knocks out a set of guards in an attempt to rescue Spell Nexus. She is sneaking through the castle so that she can apologize to
 * Adult Fear:
 * Aesop Amnesia:
 * Alternate Continuity: To the authors' earlier Alan Wake/My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic Fanfic Creeping Darkness. Both stories share the common element of Nyx, but are otherwise completely unrelated to each other.
 * Amnesiac Goddess:
 * Nyx, a reincarnation of Nightmare Moon, starts out with no memories of any time before the resurrection ritual.
 * Amnesiac Dissonance: Nyx is deeply troubled when she regains some of her memories of the events in
 * Anti-Magic: The cultists slap an anti-magic neck brace on Twilight Sparkle to prevent her from trying anything funny after she is captured. Apparently such devices are commonly used on unicorn prisoners to prevent them from escaping.
 * Badass Adorable: Pinkie Pie's defeat of  by thinking they're playing tag, and being "it".
 * Berserk Button: You should avoid threatening Twilight around Nyx.
 * Big Bad: It's debatable, but  pretty much causes all the trouble in the story.
 * Big "Shut Up!":
 * Big "What?": The reaction of Twilight's friends, many of Ponyville's citizens, and some guards from the Children of Nightmare when
 * Big Word Shout: Chapter 10's "NYX!!!" So big the font size is increased dramatically.
 * Book Safe:
 * Brainwashed and Crazy:  is forced to attack Nightmare Moon, , after she finally falls to The Corruption.
 * Brought Down to Normal:
 * But Your Wings Are Beautiful: When Nyx reveals her wings to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they think she's just a normal filly who happened to be born an Alicorn. Nyx was afraid of what they would think since Rarity and Twilight told her going out with both a horn and wings would make other ponies jealous.
 * Call Back: Chapter 14 has one to the fancomic Storytime., promoting it to Expanded Universe status.
 * Calling the Old Mare Out:
 * Cannot Tell a Joke: Nightmare Moon attempts humor by . Because the pony audience is still absolutely terrified of Nightmare Moon, the joke falls very flat.
 * Chekhov's Skill: The eye illusion spell that Twilight jury rigs is later used
 * Civilian Villain: What Twilight feared Nyx was when she first saw her in the Everfree Forest.
 * Comic Book Adaptation: Here (fanmade, but approved by the author of the story).
 * The Corruption: It's stated at one point that the reason the Cult of Nightmare Moon exists is because some ponies came in contact with shredded pieces of her that were left behind when she got 'dispelled' in episode two of the show. We're also told that just touching someone with one gives them a portion of "the blessing" and that they receive a fuller portion upon asking for it. And a chapter later, the entire Royal Guard now serves the Mare of Darkness...
 * Dark Is Not Evil: Nyx may as well be the poster filly.
 * Disproportionate Retribution: In "retaliation" for making them repeatedly be late for recess, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara send Nyx into the Everfree Forest by herself.
 * Dragon with an Agenda: 's behavior doesn't quite mesh with   as imagined and prepared by Spell Nexus.
 * Dramatic Irony: Twilight was afraid that  Celestia was afraid that an Eldritch Abomination was loose in her kingdom, plotting to overthrow her and her sister, and bring about nighttime eternal.
 * Driving Question: Is Nyx Nightmare Moon? Despite the wording on this very page, there are arguments for both sides. Interestingly, this is never completely answered in the story;
 * In the end,
 * Expanded Universe: Storytime., a promoted fancomic which is referenced with a Call Back in Chapter 14.
 * Fandom Nod:
 * Chapter 14 has a Call Back to the fancomic Storytime., promoting it to Expanded Universe status.
 * Fan Nickname:
 * Fan Sequel: It's gotten one: Point of No Return
 * Foregone Conclusion: However, that makes the scene where it happens far more heartwrenching, because you know it cannot be averted.
 * For Halloween I Am Going as Myself: Nyx, who normally hides her wings and unusual eyes to pass herself off as a normal unicorn filly, exposes her wings and eyes when she plays the part of Nightmare Moon in the school play.
 * From Nopony to Nightmare:
 * Go Mad From the Revelation:
 * Foreshadowing: Two notable examples:
 * It's mentioned twice, both from a narrative viewpoint and from Twilight herself, that the original Nyx from the legends was a black-coated pony that defended her village against monsters.
 * Nyx tells Twilight about how Diamond Tiara doesn't think she'll be any good in the play and she claims she'll show her.
 * Chapter 14 has a Call Back to the fancomic Storytime., promoting it to Expanded Universe status.
 * Fan Nickname:
 * Fan Sequel: It's gotten one: Point of No Return
 * Foregone Conclusion: However, that makes the scene where it happens far more heartwrenching, because you know it cannot be averted.
 * For Halloween I Am Going as Myself: Nyx, who normally hides her wings and unusual eyes to pass herself off as a normal unicorn filly, exposes her wings and eyes when she plays the part of Nightmare Moon in the school play.
 * From Nopony to Nightmare:
 * Go Mad From the Revelation:
 * Foreshadowing: Two notable examples:
 * It's mentioned twice, both from a narrative viewpoint and from Twilight herself, that the original Nyx from the legends was a black-coated pony that defended her village against monsters.
 * Nyx tells Twilight about how Diamond Tiara doesn't think she'll be any good in the play and she claims she'll show her.
 * It's mentioned twice, both from a narrative viewpoint and from Twilight herself, that the original Nyx from the legends was a black-coated pony that defended her village against monsters.
 * Nyx tells Twilight about how Diamond Tiara doesn't think she'll be any good in the play and she claims she'll show her.


 * That line is a double foreshadowing: firstly, but Secondly and more subtly,
 * Happily Adopted: Nyx.
 * Hellish Pupils: Because Nyx, she has these. Still cute though.
 * Heroic BSOD: Twilight Sparkle,
 * Hypocrite: The Dragon considers compassion a "weakness" and a "poison", but has no problem with grovelling for mercy when it's his neck on the line.
 * I'm Taking Her Home with Me: What happens to Twilight Sparkle when she sees that Nightmare Moon Reincarnate is confused, frightened, and alone in the Everfree Forest and needs a hug.
 * Heroic Sacrifice
 * She never once mentions wanting to die; it's more like she doesn't want anypony to get hurt, even if she has to take their place.
 * Incendiary Exponent: The Rage Shift.
 * Ironic Echo Cut: A scene cuts from Nyx thinking, "School was not going to be fun at all." to her thinking, "School was amazing!"
 * Kick the Dog: Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara's giving Nyx a verbal beatdown for delaying their recess serves to establish their villainy for this fanfic. It doesn't help their case that they revel in her tearful breakdown and then continue said verbal beatdown.
 * Laughing Mad:
 * Light Is Not Good: Princess Celestia, especially in the first version of the story. The retcon turns the issue into a To Be Lawful or Good dilema.
 * Loss of Identity:
 * Luke, I Am Your Father: While Nyx got her powers and memories from Nightmare Moon's magic, her body was essentially generated from a drop of Twilight's blood (so Twilight technically was her mother, at least genetically.) Yet apparently she inherited her wings (and her odd eyes) from Luna, possibly making this the weirdest case of this trope ever.
 * May make it a case of Has Two Mommies if you look at it that way.
 * Mama Bear:
 * Twilight Sparkle becomes this for Nyx.
 * Twilight, a second time, in chapter 21. When she thinks Nyx has been, she rage shifts and attempts to magically beat down   using bricks ripped from the surrounding castle walls.
 * Me's a Crowd:
 * Mind Control Eyes:
 * Mind Rape: This happens to Nyx when
 * Mood Whiplash: Nyx and Twilight are talking about how much fun they had had together that day, only to find
 * Chapter 16. While the mood doesn't change as quickly as many examples of this trope, it changes enough times in this chapter to possibly qualify as this, if not Cerebus Rollercoaster.
 * MST: These news posts reveal a MST is in the works for the original edit of this story.
 * And just to clarify, Pen Stroke himself approved this.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
 * Novelization: Chapter 15's ending is based on the fancomic
 * Oh Crap: Celestia, on realizing that
 * Orwellian Retcon: The authors just completed a massive one to clear up spelling errors, tweak Nyx's personality, add in some Luna, and make Celestia nicer (while still keeping her an antagonist) among other things.
 * YMMV on Celestia being an antagonist.
 * Painting the Medium: If Pen Stroke and Batty Gloom want something to reverberate inside your skull, they will use the medium to let you know. They also make liberal use of italics to display emphasis, and use another kind of style change to signify onomatopoeia.
 * Given that the story was written with Google Docs, the two actually links to a looped Castlevania song during chapter 17 in order to help accompany the mood of the main scene.
 * Parental Abandonment: After the events of chapter 10,
 * Parental Obliviousness: Twilight Sparkle suffers from a brief bout of this when she doesn't recognize Nyx's reluctance to go out and play with her self-proclaimed friends Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
 * Pet the Dog: Near the end of chapter 17, it's shown that all.
 * Plot-Relevant Age-Up:
 * Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Used to tell the audience when It. Is. ON!
 * Puppy Dog Eyes: Nyx and the Cutie Mark Crusaders use these to great effect.
 * Nyx can take it Up to Eleven. When Puppy Dog Eyes alone fails to convince Twilight's pet owl to let her leave the library, she intentionally starts shedding tears and whimpering.
 * Reformed but Rejected:
 * Relatively Flimsy Excuse: Twilight initially passes off Nyx as her cousin who came to live with her indefinitely.
 * Religion of Evil: Children of Nightmare is a cult bent on bringing back Nightmare Moon and plunging Equestria into eternal night.
 * Reluctant Monster: Guess who.
 * Celestia may qualify as this, as highlighted in her confession to Luna shortly after all heck breaks loose.
 * Say My Name: Twilight,
 * Schedule Slip: When the fic was first submitted, it was updated in parts every other two days or so. After the retcon, it has updated less often. Word of God states that the authors are much more concerned with the quality of the updates rather than the pure speed and quantity of them.
 * Screams Like a Little Girl:
 * Sealed Inside A Pony Shaped Can:.
 * Self Made Mare:
 * Shock and Awe:
 * Shout-Out: At the end of chapter 13, Pinkie Pie's saying "Who's going to make the cake when I'm gone?" is a shout out to one of G La DOS's lines near the end of the original Portal.
 * In chapter 18,.
 * Show Within a Show: The school play in which Nyx plays the part of Nightmare Moon. Said play is based on the events of the pilot episodes of My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic. Pinkie Pie helped to write the script, and said that she had read the episode transcripts to help her remember what they had said.
 * Shrinking Violet: Nyx. With her purple mane, she's even Color Coded for Your Convenience!
 * Slice of Life: Much of  the story focuses on Nyx adjusting to life in Ponyville.
 * Spoiler Opening:
 * Thicker Than Water: Twilight leaves her friends to track down Nyx
 * To Be Lawful or Good: Celestia faces this dilemma over what to do about Nyx.
 * Ungrateful Fillies: In Chapter 21, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon attend a party in Nyx's honor. Twilight encourages her daughter to apologize for what she did to them. Nyx grudgingly does so and . May also count as Bratty fillies cannot comprehend kindness.
 * It's worth noting that only Diamond Tiara spoke while Silver Spoon just stood there...
 * Wham Chapter:
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?: From chapter 8: "No pony makes Pinkie Pie miss Pin the Tail on the Pony!"
 * What the Hell, Hero?:
 * Luna's response to Celestia's  and to Celestia's neglecting to tell Luna about the whole "Nightmare Moon Reborn" debacle ahead of time.
 * Twilight gives Celestia two of these in the last two chapters. In Chapter 20,  In Chapter 21,
 * What the Hell, Hero?:
 * Luna's response to Celestia's  and to Celestia's neglecting to tell Luna about the whole "Nightmare Moon Reborn" debacle ahead of time.
 * Twilight gives Celestia two of these in the last two chapters. In Chapter 20,  In Chapter 21,