History Fanfic / PastSins

* LossOfIdentity: Because of [[spoiler:her time spent as Nyx, as well as missing the worst parts of her own soul]], Nightmare Moon struggles with her own identity and thoughts. By the time [[spoiler:she makes a HeroicSacrifice in order to protect the town from monsters, she openly says, "I...I don't know who I am anymore".]] Twilight tells her that she doesn't have to be the same mare she used to be during the Summer Sun Celebration.]

The sequel series, ''In The Family'', deals with life after Nightmare Moon. It consists of three stories, ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/43298/Trinkets Trinkets]]'', ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/53090/Nightmare-or-Nyx%3F Nightmare or Nyx?]]'', and ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/71883/winter-bells Winter Bells]]''. While ''Trinkets'' and ''Nightmare or Nyx?'' are one-shots, ''Winter Bells'' has multiple chapters.

Other than those, there's a prequel named ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/154784/first-hours First Hours]]'', which details Nyx's first few hours of sentience. ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/255714/the-road-home The Road Home]]'' occurs after Tirek blows up the library.

* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Celestia give one to [[spoiler: Nightmare Moon/Nyx]] during their fight in chapter

''[[http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/07/story-past-sins.html Past Sins]]'' is a ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic written by Pen Stroke, with assistance from 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 would be revised/expanded to incorporate season 2 canon ([[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/41596/Past-Sins and can be found here]]), as well as the possibility of official side stories and short sequels (such as the ''In The Family'' series; details on that below). Also, an {{MST}} of the previously unseen, pre-revision version can be found [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uJ8FqW1zBIzsYZoe4M1ILS9H8wgk2zjEEGQqmgNsfIg/edit?hl=en_US here.]] The [=MSTing=] has its own entry [[Fanfic/PastSinsMST here]].

There is also a series of {{recursive fanfiction}}s by the name of [[FanFic/RealityChecksNyxverse RealityCheck's Nyxverse]].

* AntiMagic: 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.

** [[spoiler:Nightmare Moon]] mentions on several occasions that despite the fine foods available to her [[spoiler: as Queen of Equestria]] her favorite meal is celery soup. She even asks for it in Chapter 20 [[spoiler:as a last meal when she fears she's about to be imprisoned on the Moon again]]. When Celestia asks her why she is so fond of it, she replies that it always reminds her of her [[HappilyAdopted mother]] [[spoiler: Twilight Sparkle, for it was the very first meal Twilight fed Nyx when she brought her home after rescuing her from the Everfree forest]].
** In Chapter 13, an anxious Celestia is unable to sleep because she fears [[spoiler: that an attack from Nightmare Moon is imminent]]. To try to calm her nerves, she orders a bowl of maroon carrot soup and an extra large piece of butter cake from the royal kitchens. Unfortunately it doesn't work, though that's mostly because [[spoiler:the servant who brings it to her turns out to be [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Nightmare Moon in disguise]]]].

* DramaticIrony: Twilight was afraid that [[spoiler: Celestia would take her daughter away]]. Celestia was afraid that an EldritchAbomination was loose in her kingdom, plotting to overthrow her and her sister, and bring about nighttime eternal. [[spoiler: Celestia's knee-jerk reaction to ''her'' fear resulted in ''both'' their fears coming true]].

* EarnYourHappyEnding: By the end of the story, Nyx has been [[spoiler: bullied, [[MindRape mind-raped]], kidnapped from her mom, transformed into Nightmare Moon, plunged Equestria into what was meant to be eternal night, nearly watched Twilight be hung, nearly died protecting Ponyville and run the risk of being erased from existence.]] Does she deserve to go home and just be [[HappilyAdopted Twilight's daughter]]? Yes. Does she get it? [[spoiler: Also yes.]]
* EasilyForgiven: [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] and ultimately [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. After the whole crisis is resolved and Royal Sisters are trying to decide on what judgement should they exact on [[spoiler:Nightmare Moon]], Luna visits various citizens of Equestria, asking them what they think should be done with her. Their reactions range from advocating her banishment to the moon, to punishing her in less harsh ways like imprisoning or community service, to forgiving her altogether. In the end, [[spoiler:Princesses decide to take away her powers, reverting her to her child persona and leaving her in Twilight's care again. Many Equestria citizens are not happy about this, and it is obvious that they are unwilling to forgive Nyx crimes she committed as Nightmare Moon]].

** 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 who defended her village against monsters. [[spoiler: Nyx does the same thing as Nightmare Moon.]]

* HappilyAdopted: Nyx. [[spoiler: When Nyx realizes that she has no blood relatives, Twilight then explains how she, Owlowiscious, and Spike form a family for her. Nyx happily accepts Twilight as her mother. Spike's relationship with Nyx is brotherly, although he says to Twilight that he prefers to be thought of as an HonoraryUncle.]]
** On the "blood relatives" angle, [[spoiler: Twilight]] provided the blood that was used to create Nyx, though this is a minor detail that isn't really elaborated on and clearly doesn't matter to Twilight. In the FanSequel ''Nightmare Night and Nyx'', Nyx asks Celestia if being made from Nightmare Moon's remaining magic makes ''Luna'' her father, which causes the princess to SpitTake.

** [[spoiler:Princess Celestia, after [[TearJerker ripping Nyx from Twilight's hooves]], inadvertently hands her over to the leader of the Children of Nightmare cult. He then completes the interrupted spell that gave Nyx life, transforming her into Nightmare Moon.]]

* ParentalAbandonment: After the events of chapter 10, [[spoiler: Nyx thinks Twilight did this to her.]]

* PetTheDog: Near the end of chapter 17, it's shown that all [[spoiler: Diamond Tiara wants to do is spend some quality time with her {{Brainwashed}} dad, who's gone to [[WhenYouComingHomeDad neglecting her and her mother]] after being given a seat of power]].

** Luna's response to Celestia's [[spoiler: ripping a child from her mother's arms]] and to Celestia neglecting to tell her about the whole "Nightmare Moon Reborn" debacle ahead of time.

* Unishment: After Celestia and Luna are released, it falls to Luna to decide Nightmare Moon's punishment for conquering Equestria in the first place. [[spoiler:Given that Nightmare!Nyx had been a much kinder monarch than could be expected of someone being manipulated by an evil possessed cult, and had defended the citizens at significant cost to herself, Luna decides to deport her, undoing the PlotRelevantAgeUp, and remand her to the custody of Nyx's mother, Twilight. As Pinkie puts it later, anyone who knows Nyx will understand that's not a punishment.]]

** [[spoiler:It's revealed that Nyx really was Nightmare Moon reborn and once she is fully resurrected, she actively tries to play the part.]]
** That line is a double foreshadowing. Firstly, [[spoiler:as stated above, Nyx plays the role of Nightmare Moon once she forcibly receives her PlotRelevantAgeUp]], but secondly and more subtly, [[spoiler:as Nightmare Moon, the now-transformed Nyx tries to be the "best" Nightmare Moon possible from a moral/ethical standpoint. That is, while fulfilling the "requirements" of Nightmare Moon (overthrowing the Princesses, bringing eternal night, etc.), she also attempts to be a benevolent and effective ruler who looks out for the best interests of her ponies. When these two roles conflict, she sides with "helping out the ponies" instead of "playing Nightmare Moon by the book", much to Spell Nexus's chagrin]].

%%* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: [[spoiler:Nightmare Nyx]]
* WouldHitAGirl: Spell Nexus showed absolutely no qualms about using physical force to knock out Twilight.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Once it is made happen, the eternal night has such ramifications as deprivation of sunlight would have in real world, namely withering crops and growing cold. A mere week after [[spoiler:Nightmare Moon's takeover]], Cheerilee is shown trying to keep herself warm inside her own house by lighting up the fireplace and covering herself with a blanket, and it is mentioned that food is starting to get scarce already.
** It is worth noting that Children of Nightmare were actually aware of this, and spent quite some time even before their takeover magically breeding plants capable of surviving in the moonlight and creating warming lamps. However, replacing existing crops with new and improved ones isn't something that can be done in a few days and there are far too few of those fancy, magical warming lamps to supply every city, town and village in Equestria with them (let us remember, that Equestria is -- after all -- a large country, taking most of the continent, which makes things even more difficult). Thus, it quickly becomes clear that many ponies will die of cold and starvation before they're done introducing all the countermeasures.

* PuppyDogEyes: Nyx and the Cutie Mark Crusaders use these to great effect, and Nyx can take it UpToEleven. When PuppyDogEyes alone fails to convince Twilight's pet owl to let her leave the library, she [[http://041744.deviantart.com/art/Nyx-s-interesting-skill-255425907 intentionally starts shedding tears and whimpering]].

* AdultFear: [[spoiler: Nyx being taken away by a higher authority, screaming for Twilight to save her.]]

* DramaticIrony: Twilight was afraid that [[spoiler: Celestia would [[AdultFear take her daughter away]]]]. Celestia was afraid that an EldritchAbomination was loose in her kingdom, plotting to overthrow her and her sister, and bring about nighttime eternal. [[spoiler: Celestia's knee-jerk reaction to ''her'' fear resulted in ''both'' their fears coming true]].

* RealityEnsues: Once it is made happen, the eternal night has such ramifications as deprivation of sunlight would have in real world, namely withering crops and growing cold. A mere week after [[spoiler:Nightmare Moon's takeover]], Cheerilee is shown trying to keep herself warm inside her own house by lighting up the fireplace and covering herself with a blanket, and it is mentioned that food is starting to get scarce already.
** It is worth noting that Children of Nightmare were actually aware of this, and spent quite some time even before their takeover magically breeding plants capable of surviving in the moonlight and creating warming lamps. However, replacing existing crops with new and improved ones isn't something that can be done in a few days and there are far too few of those fancy, magical warming lamps to supply every city, town and village in Equestria with them (let us remember, that Equestria is -- after all -- a large country, taking most of the continent, which makes things even more difficult). Thus, it quickly becomes clear that many ponies will die of cold and starvation before they're done introducing all the countermeasures.

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?
----

Can be read [[http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/07/story-past-sins.html here]].

There is a sequel series labeled ''In The Family'' which deal with life after Nightmare Moon. It consists of three stories, ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/43298/Trinkets Trinkets]]'', ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/53090/Nightmare-or-Nyx%3F Nightmare or Nyx?]]'', and ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/71883/winter-bells Winter Bells]]''. While ''Trinkets'' and ''Nightmare or Nyx?'' are one-shots, ''Winter Bells'' has multiple chapters.

''Past Sins'' is a ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' 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 ([[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/41596/Past-Sins and can be found here]]), as well as the possibility of official side stories and short sequels (Such as the aforementioned ''In The Family'' series). Also, an {{MST}} of the previously unseen, pre-revision version can be found [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uJ8FqW1zBIzsYZoe4M1ILS9H8wgk2zjEEGQqmgNsfIg/edit?hl=en_US here.]] The [=MSTing=] has its own entry [[Fanfic/PastSinsMST here]].

----

!! This ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' FanFic provides examples of:

* AlliterativeTitle: In [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/255714/12/ Chapter 12]] of ''The Road Home'', the title of Cadance's Unicornia History school paper is "Unicornia and its Undeniably Unsettling Underbelly." Discussed right after:
-->Nyx couldn’t help but snicker a little. "That's a lot of U’s."\\

** 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 [=GLaDOS=]' lines near the end of the original VideoGame/{{Portal}}.

* ShowWithinAShow: The school play in which Nyx plays the part of [[ForHalloweenIAmGoingAsMyself Nightmare Moon]]. Said play is based on the events of the pilot episodes of WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic. [[FourthWallObserver Pinkie Pie]] helped to write the script, and said that she had [[BreakingTheFourthWall read the episode transcripts]] to help her remember what they had said.

* WhamEpisode: Chapter 10. [[spoiler:Celestia takes Nyx away, the cultists succeed in turning Nyx into a fully grown Nightmare Moon, and [[TearJerker Nyx publicly disowns Twilight]].]]

* TheAtoner: As of the side story/sequel [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/71883/winter-bells Winter Bells]] [[spoiler:Spell Nexus tries to atone for his role as the " leader" of the Children of Nightmare cult ]] His attempts fail and he falls into despondency and a deranged mental state until he realizes why he can't go trough penance by fixing the wrongs caused by his previous acts: [[spoiler: There are no wrongs for him to right because by this point there is nothing broken for him to fix.]]

* RelativelyFlimsyExcuse: Twilight initially passes off Nyx as her cousin who came to live with her indefinitely. Hilariously, this actually makes more sense after the Season Two revision, given that Twilight had a brother that even her friends didn't know about.

%%* EarnYourHappyEnding: By the end of the story, Nyx has been [[spoiler: bullied, [[MindRape mind-raped]], kidnapped from her mom, transformed into Nightmare Moon, plunged Equestria into what was meant to be eternal night, nearly watched Twilight be hung, nearly died protecting Ponyville and run the risk of being erased from existence.]] Does she deserve to go home and just be [[HappilyAdopted Twilight's daughter]]? Yes. Does she get it? [[spoiler: Also yes.]]

** In Chapter 13, [[spoiler:Mane Five make a desperate attempt at defeating Nightmare Moon with Elements of Harmony, but, since Twilight Sparkle was imprisoned earlier, they decide to enlist Trixie as a replacement. Her boastful, over-the-top behaviour and abysmal results of serving as the Element of Magic clash with [[DarkestHour overall grim tone]] of the chapter]].

[[TheFilmOfTheBook A film adaptation]] is in progress [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbJ5oDZtDGMU8VelDKKd4HQ here]] (or at least was, 4 years ago).

* JackBauerInterrogationTechnique: Twilight is subjected to it by Children of Nightmare after she gets captured, in order to force her to reveal how she managed to infiltrate their castle. The interrogation itself is not described, but when [[spoiler:she's delivered to Nightmare Moon after Nexus is done with her, she is badly beaten and bruised]].

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:By the end of Chapter 13, Nightmare Moon's victory is absolute. She had defeated both Celestia and Luna, banishing them to the sun and the moon respectively, she holds Twilight Sparkle prisoner, rendering Mane Five unable to use the Elements of Harmony -- which are soon seized by Nightmare Moon anyway -- leaving nobody who could oppose her, and crowns herself the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen of Equestria]], finally bringing upon her eternal night. All too soon, though, she starts to regret her actions and feel miserable over losing everyone she cared for]].

* NiceCharacterMeanActor: In-universe, the school bully Diamond Tiara plays the kind, gentle and beloved Princess Celestia in Ponyville Elementary's school play, ''Reunion of the Royal Pony Sisters.''

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:By the end of Chapter 13, Nightmare Moon's victory is absolute. She had defeated both Celestia and Luna, banishing them to the sun and the moon respectively, she holds Twilight Sparkle prisoner, rendering Mane Five unable to use the Elements of Harmony -- which are soon seized by Nightmare Moon anyway -- leaving nobody who could oppose her, and crowns herself the [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen of Equestria]], finally bringing upon her eternal night. All too soon, though, she starts to feel miserable over losing everyone she cared for and regret her actions]].

%%* DarkIsNotEvil: Nyx may as well be the poster filly.%%ZCE -- how?

* DramaticIrony: Twilight was afraid that [[spoiler: Celestia would [[AdultFear take her daughter away]]]]. Celestia was afraid that an EldritchAbomination was loose in her kingdom, plotting to overthrow her and her sister, and bring about nighttime eternal. [[spoiler: Celestia's knee-jerk reaction to ''her'' fear resulted in ''both'' their fears coming true.]]

* EmotionsVersusStoicism: Played both ways in Chapter 10. [[spoiler: Celestia's growing fear of what Nyx could become leads her to taking actions that she knows are horrible. At the same time, Twilight Sparkle's inability to follow her heart against Celestia's logical arguments cause her to let Celestia take Nyx away.]]
* EvenBadWomenLoveTheirMamas: [[spoiler:Nightmare Moon will NOT tolerate anypony harming Twilight Sparkle.]]

* GoodFeelsGood: Even after [[spoiler:Nightmare Moon]] regains her lost memories and power, she quickly discovers she's a lot happier being kind to ponies rather than being a tyrant. Comes to a head when she frees her cult from the lingering bits of her inner evil, steps down as Queen of Equestria, and finally defends Ponyville from a monster attack.]]

* {{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 who defended her village against monsters. [[spoiler: Nyx does the same thing as Nightmare Moon.]]
** 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.
---> '''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!
** [[spoiler:It's revealed that Nyx really was Nightmare Moon reborn and once she is fully resurrected, she actively tries to play the part.]]
** That line is a double foreshadowing. Firstly, [[spoiler:as stated above, Nyx plays the role of Nightmare Moon once she forcibly receives her PlotRelevantAgeUp]], but secondly and more subtly, [[spoiler:as Nightmare Moon, the now-transformed Nyx tries to be the "best" Nightmare Moon possible from a moral/ethical standpoint. That is, while fulfilling the "requirements" of Nightmare Moon (overthrowing the Princesses, bringing eternal night, etc.), she also attempts to be a benevolent and effective ruler who looks out for the best interests of her ponies. When these two roles conflict, she sides with "helping out the ponies" instead of "playing Nightmare Moon by the book", much to Spell Nexus's chagrin.]]

%%* IncendiaryExponent: The Rage Shift.

** In Chapter 13, [[spoiler:Mane Five make a desperate attempt at defeating Nightmare Moon with Elements of Harmony, but, since Twilight Sparkle was imprisoned earlier, they decide to enlist Trixie as a replacement. Her boastful, over-the-top behaviour and abysmal results of serving as the Element of Magic clash with overall, grim tone of the chapter]].

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler:Princess Celestia, after [[TearJerker ripping Nyx from Twilight's hooves]], inadvertently hands her over to the leader of the Children of Nightmare cult. He then completes the interrupted spell that gave Nyx life, transforming her into Nightmare Moon.]]