YMMV / Past Sins

• Ass Pull: The spell that turns Nightmare Moon back into Nyx could be considered this as it fixes everything and comes right out of nowhere. Ironically, the same magic-draining spell would later be used in canon by Tirek.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Some believe Celestia's actions are extremely stupid or out of character. Others believe she might be acting out of emotions rather than logic or seeing Nyx as too big of a threat to do anything else.
  • If what Nightmare Moon claims is true, Luna running away from her, crying for Celestia to come save her might be considered OOC. Also, Luna's What the Hell, Hero? involves Luna yelling at Celestia to stop treating her as a child, among other things. Given the vaguery concerning her official personality, it's very hard to make an argument that any interpretation of Luna is behaving out of character. This is further compounded by the above scene being the one that establishes Luna's character within Past Sins.
  • Nyx herself is seen as adorable by some, and a whiny Mary Sue by others.
• Broken Base: The instant the authors gave in to the protests of several commentors, the opinions of several readers on the story were pretty much completely inverted. Some who prefer the old version feel the revision has ruined the whole story, while those who asked for them are now claiming the story deserves its 6 stars. On the plus side, at least the authors themselves are happy with the changes.
• Ending Fatigue: If one attempts to read this, many of the chapters might drag on for a while.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Nyx has slowly been gaining a good deal of fanart, which is pretty rare for OCs and fanfics in general.
  • Even Mad Max has drawn her!
  • And now she has her own Deviant Art fan club.
• Fan Nickname: While technically the same character within the context of the story, many fans call Nightmare Moon after she is fully resurrected Nightmare Nyx to separate her from the one in the pilot, i.e. when she and Luna were the same pony.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Though the IDW comics don't seem to be referenced in the fan fic itself (most likely due to Past Sins being written before the IDW MLP comics' release), the scene with Rarity in Chapter 2 may be this following the release of the comics' 2nd story arc. As in the scene in question, Rarity has her misgivings about Nyx, and fears that Twilight's life is in danger whenever she's around her due to the possibility of Nyx being Nightmare Moon reborn. In the comics' 2nd story arc, Rarity is possessed by Nightmare Moon. Who, in this fic, is Nyx's previous incarnation. Which would give Rarity plenty of reason to be wary around Nyx.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • There may be some Harsher in Hindsight, but the fourth season episode "Castle Mane-ia" deals with the tale of the Pony of Shadows, a being formed from a fragment of Nightmare Moon's power left behind after her initial banishment...
  • Late in the story, Luna explains that she had invented a spell to steal magic from others, both ponies and plants, to build up her power (this is the same spell she used to turn Nightmare Moon back into Nyx). Season 4's finale featured Tirek using exactly the same type of spell to empower himself.
  • After taking over Equestria, Nightmare Moon raised the castle her cult built underground, over Ponyville. Kind of like how Twilight's Castle in Ponyville rose over Ponyville.
  • The fanfic portrays Luna and Nightmare Moon as two separate entities, a few years before the IDW comics would do the exact same thing. ^note However, how they're separate is completely different in each respective context. In the fanfic, Nightmare Moon is reborn via dark magic, while in the comics themselves, Nightmare Moon was the spirit responsible for Luna's corruption and has existed possibly before Luna was born.
  • Nyx joins the Cutie Mark Crusaders and by the end of the story, she ends up getting her cutie mark which is a shield with a crescent moon inside of it. Then comes the episode "Crusaders Of The Lost Mark," in which the CMC finally get their cutie marks which just so happen to be shields with symbols inside of them◊.
  • Scootaloo suggests Bungee Jumping as an activity the Crusaders could do to gain their cutie marks. In "On Your Marks," she tries it as an activity and loves it.
  • In the first chapter of The Road Home, Twilight exercises her authority as a Princess to open a personal school that allows anyone, not simply anypony to join. 3 years later, she does precisely just that in "School Daze".
• Hype Backlash: Much of the hype came from overly excited fans who over-hyped the fic, which lead to the backlash. It's mostly well-received on Equestria Daily and DA, while places like /co/, /pony/, and Ponibooru despise it.
• Moe: Nyx could give Fluttershy a run for her money.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • After the Retcon, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon making Nyx cry and reveling in doing so may qualify. Also, given that they clearly know that the Everfree Forest is filled with monsters, their sending Nyx into the heart of it as a "prank" knowing that she could be killed is unforgivable. Granted, with all the times the Mane 6 and the Cutie Mark Crusaders have wandered in and out of Everfree, the menace of the woods MIGHT have been a little undermined.
  • Nyx herself thinks she crossed it when she didn't realize Twilight received a blessing from Nexus and was almost hanged, Nexus would have crossed it for trying to kill Twilight and make Nightmare Moon evil again if not for his being possessed.
• More Popular Spin-Off: Of the authors' earlier Alan Wake/My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fan Fic Creeping Darkness. The two stories are Alternate Continuities, sharing the common element of Nyx but otherwise being completely unrelated to each other.
• Older Than They Think: Nyx originated in the authors' earlier Alan Wake/My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Fan Fic Creeping Darkness. The two stories are Alternate Continuities, sharing the common element of Nyx but otherwise being completely unrelated to each other.
• Recurring Fanon Character: The popularity of Nyx has led to her appearing in numerous other fan-works.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Even though the authors and the pre-readers are happy with the changes, some readers got upset and literally said that the changes ruined the story.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Considering the fact that the plot dwells around Nightmare Moon being resurrected as a being separate from Luna, some readers were disappointed that Luna played such little role in the overall story.
  • Nightmare Moon herself, a major complaint is how Nyx barely acts like her past self and find the ideal of Nightmare Moon slowly becoming good would make a better story.
• Wangst: Nightmare Nyx has a tendency to do this in later chapters. It's probably due to this that this fic gets its Hatedom from.
• The Woobie: Nyx. Whenever she feels sad, you can't help but want to give her a hug and tell her that everything is going to be alright.

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