You know how the story goes: A deranged cult kidnaps Twilight Sparkle, intent on using her to resurrect Nightmare Moon and bringing about an empire of Eternal Glorious Night. Thanks to the timely intervention of Celestia, the cult is thwarted, their ritual fails, and a small alicorn foal finds herself experiencing the big wide world of Equestria.

But what if things went a bit... differently? What if the Princess of the Sun's triumphant rescue was just a tiny bit sooner, the spell just a little bit more unfinished?

Now, Twilight Sparkle finds herself learning all the things she didn't know about alicorn foalcare (which is everything), Princess Luna finds herself in a battle of wits against a conspiracy that worships her worst impulses (which is just embarrassing), and Princess Celestia finds herself facing her oldest demons (of which there are many).

This fic is based off Past Sins, and follows the prologue of that story before deviating significantly. Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke, of course.

Big thanks to the Fimfiction discord for proofreading.