Pen Stroke's Past Sins

This might be the biggest fanfic in the fandom. It's a close race between it and Fallout: Equestria, but Fo:E might lose a little traction due to its explicit content, whereas Past Sins is more family friendly. But countless spinoff fics, fan art, and fan music – and a professional print run – shows that Nyx's story really resonated with all branches of the fandom.

[Dark][Sad] • 203,000 words
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 little 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 she 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?

Hit the break for a chat with Pen Stroke and his assistant in crime Batty Gloom, and links to Past Sins online. (Check out the Equestria Daily link for links to other fan works based on the story.) As always, you can get your own ebook copies at the Downloads page, and as a special gift for Vault readers, Pen Stroke got the Equestria Publications team to generate an exclusive PDF of Past Sins, including the illustrations created for the print run – get it here!

Pen Stroke's Creeping Darkness

So our last poll indicated we could use some more adventure fics here, and I wholeheartedly agree! If you're leery of a video game crossover, consider this: before reading this one, I had never played Alan Wake and knew only it "has something to do with a writer" - Creeping Darkness was so good I went out and bought the game, a sentiment I've seen echoed by other fans of the story around the fandom.

[Adventure][Crossover] • 61,300 words
Alan Wake has unintentionally released the Darkness and an old villain upon Equestria. To fix the mistake, Alan starts a new story with Twilight Sparkle as the protagonist. Can the unicorn find the strength to face the darkness, or is all of Equestria doomed to be the victim in the dreadful horror story?

Hit the break for an interview with the dynamic duo themselves, and links to Creeping Darkness where fine pony fiction is found. Don't forget to grab an ebook copy at the Downloads page!