This story is a sequel to Canterlot Has Fallen
Time marches forward in Equestria, and yet the allure of "what if?" remains. Twilight wonders about the "what ifs" as she tries to guide Equestria to a bright and prosperous future. Cadance wonders about the "what ifs" as she sees her daughter growing.
The power of "what if" tempts once again, but are the little ponies really ready for the answers?
Pre-read & Edited by: Illustrious Q & El Oso
Cover art by: SpokenMind93
Celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Past Sins! Thank you all so much for letting me and my stories be part of the community!
Chapters (6)
Is this based off of Marvel's "What If..." on Disney+?
10959464
Good guess, but no; it's a sequel to a story Pen Stroke wrote back in 2016.
I hate that it's going to be a looong time before I get to read this. I got about 60 pages of stories to read through. Can't wait, hopefully FiMFic lasts that long.
How many stories are going to be in this series?
10959522
There will be 5 Variances and 1 Core chapter for a total of 6.
Oh man, if this is just the start, this is gonna be some good stuff.
It's great to see you still writing when other people who made fandom-favorite stories (like Friendship is Optimal) were one-and-done authors.
10959464
Naw I think this came before at least the first on did
I like the irony of the Past Sins/Canon MLP timeline, because when Twilight adopted Nyx she became part of the royal family and Eventual co ruler of Equestria with her mom.
So from the cover, I'm guessing the teacher AU is one of the next chapters. Liked the Depths one even if I know nothing about it, and look forward to the next!
Honestly, Wisp, there are certain things that you just do.
When you are told that a child's toy will "make you sorry," you don't consider the exact reaches of a child's imagination; you contact an exorcist.
When an alicorn princess tells you to keep your daughter in her room and not let her out until she tells you to, you don't ponder if she has a valid motive; you keep your daughter locked in there like it was Sing Sing.
And, most importantly of all, when someone asks you if you are a god, you say "yes!"
intriguing cover art
Yay! I loved the first Glimpses story, and I can't wait to see what variances we get for this one.
Also, the second Nyx from the left in the cover art kind of looks like Mabel from Gravity Falls. Will that be one of the crossovers?
Pen Stroke, I don't know how I wasn't following you before. I have so much Past Sins content to catch up on now...
Today I learned there's a sequel to glimpses before this one.
Pen stroke I'm glad to see my favorite writer is still going strong. Its good to be back with Twilight and Nyx I'm excited for what glimpses we may see from the duo this time.
It’s ironic this is coming out when “What If..?” Is also coming out
10959464
Also, Marvel did it in the comics long before they did it anywhere else. Just like pretty much everything else Marvel because it's a comic book company.
(According to the link I went and found after typing the rest of this comment, 1977 vs. 2021. Unamused Applejack is completely warranted)
10959752
See above. A lot of us weren't even born yet in 1977. (EDIT: For further context, that's nearly a decade before the original show, never mind FiM)
10960110
Ahh thatakes sense sorry I guess since it just said Marvel they ment the most updated version... Good to know anyway thank! :)
10959839
None of these stories are crossovers, except possibly with other stories on the site; simply tales where the timeline diverged.
As such, any resemblances to persons from other media, while perhaps not coincidental, are immaterial to the story being told.
Probably.
10959464
That's a concept far from unique to disney's marvel.
No vomiting pea soup or calling for a young and an old priest? What kind of exorcism is this?
10960148
It's not necessarily diverged timelines. It can be any "what if?" scenario.
10959464
10960110
10960116
10960148
10960250
10960151
To be candid, the original Glimpses focused on a mechanism very similar to the "What-If" machine of Futurama. Yes, of course, the concept has been around a lot longer than that, but that was my direct point of inspiration for the first anthology.
10960273
Thanks for that explanation.
10960273
Honestly I'd love to see Nyx in crossovers. I love crossovers when done right. Though I believe it has do be done in balance. It has to be tasteful and make some sort of sense narrative wise.
Karens exist even in Equestria. So glad I got out of retail in 2020
I hope they work things out. Twilight should be able to see her grandfalls
I will say, trying to get Daybreaker would not, at that point in time, have necessarily been a bad idea. They had the data from the previous incident, they ostensibly knew where Spell Nexus had made mistakes, and they apparently had help from Cozy Glow (though to be fair, that may actually have been where everything went awry).
Not... totally certain what the end goal was, but cults will be cults.
Oh, wow! She has kids! Bah!
Such a tease! We don't get their father, or their names or anything!
...
I wonder what'll happen to that Karen...
10960734 Hopefully an in-person Friendship Lesson from Princess Twilight herself.
Oh wow, if Helia already has kids of her own this must be WAY forward in time. But I'm in 10960734's boat— I'd love to hear more about her family.
And I hope that Karen got her 'just desserts'.
Can we all just sit back and enjoy how well this idea sticks to the main continuity? Not only do we get Daybreaker filly, we get a Past Sins-esque story to go with it! What's not to love?
I will say, however, that I was kinda thinking that the two fillies would effectively pop up almost on top of one another. Maybe something like Sun filly being a result of some Royal Wedding disaster or somesuch event...
First MLP celbrated their 10th year aniversary and now the time has come for us. Now, for all the old school early fandom content. One by one every piece is being thanked for, so thank you so much for the story you have provided for us ever since those early days. At the time the hype train was still speeding up, and you just heaved a full shovel of coal into the fire. Tnank you
To provoke and anger the alicorn? That mare should be incorpatibly with life stupid or adequately mean.
Why would Nyx bother with glasses if she is Nightmare size?
But good addition.
10961275
maybe those are her reading glasses? or her sight could have worsened as she got older.
10961254
It was an obvious Karen pony.
10961289
Explain, please. I don't get it. Something American?
10961302 "Karen" is a slang term for a bitchy, entitled middle-aged woman (usually upper middle class) who uses bullying to get what she wants, generally found in retail settings harassing customers and employees alike. Cries of "let me speak to a manager" and the like are common, and temper tantrums if things don't go their way are equally common.
Think like Spoiled Rich in canon, but in a retail setting.
Thank you for this Story
Did... Did you base her on this?
https://www.deviantart.com/spokenmind93/art/Concept-Helia-686692823
I have a feeling you do considering the hairclip thing. If so, damn, I wish I could hug you ^^
Haven’t read into the depths but this was awesome, can’t wait for the next stories
10961400
The young Helia, the way she's described in their youth, most assuridly.
10961631
That is very awesome ^^
Narrative Causality.
Just which rules of stories is she willing to break, and which of Maxwells Demons to fight?
Ouch. I was just watching some Nostalgia Critic before reading this, so I'm feeling some pretty intense mood whiplash right now.
I think I found 2 small errors, but I could be wrong.
Pretty sure these are ment to be "he".
But anyway, lovely story :)
10962184
They should be addressed!
Fun Fact: This came about because I pivoted Winter Wisp to be a stay-at-home dad instead of a mom, and so the pronouns had to be flipped in a lot of places.
Man. I'll be honest, I don't remember this monster attack, but given Nyx's eventual cutie mark, it doesn't surprise me that something like this could happen. Even magic sometimes can't help the body.
I love the idea of Nyx being what's essentially the manager of the Dream Realm. It really fits her ability to help protect others, even if she's doing it indirectly and having others do it instead.
And that Golden Oaks scene was so sweet.
Sending you a PM shortly.