My entry into the "Hearth's Warming Care Package for Kiki" Fan-fiction contest. Didn't make the finals, but I was close.
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After a long day in the fields, Applejack only wants to be able to eat her dinner and go to bed. The only problem, it's already occupied by a very ill Zecora. The Apples are famous for their hospitality, but when does Applejack have to draw the line?

This story is a sequel to Past Sins

Hearth's Warming is a time for friends and family to come together, celebrate harmony, and welcome the new year. Nyx is looking forward to just this as she rides the train to Canterlot with Spike and Twilight. She's going to meet her extended family for the first time and wants nothing more than to make a good impression. Yet, the sheen of the holidays can't hide the trouble caused by meddling grandparents, relentless reporters, and a paranoid uncle.

This story is a sequel to Past Sins

Side-story to Past Sins - Spike almost lost Twilight to a hangmare's noose, but now Twilight is safe and Nyx is a filly again. Normal life is returning. Still, Spike can't ignore the fact that Nyx just isn't the same as he remembers her. Her temper is more volatile, and, when she gets angry, all he can see is the rage-driven Nightmare Moon of legend.

And thus Spike has to wonder: Is Nyx truly reformed, or is she one bad tantrum away from calling herself Nightmare Moon again?

This story is a sequel to Past Sins

Side-story to Past Sins - Slowly, the wounds inflicted by Nightmare Moon's reign heal. Ponyville is being reconstructed, and the last refugees are leaving the castle. Nyx is with Twilight. Celestia and Luna rule Equestria and guide the sun and moon once more. Everything is as it should be.

But some things are never washed away. These are the things that remain to remind us of the past. They remind us of the good times we've had with friends and family. They never let us forget the mistakes we've made. Everyone has them. Twilight has them. Nyx has them.

And, on occasion, when you share your scars, your photos, and your trinkets with another, they just might share theirs in return.

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?

It's your general HiE story. Human arrives, human is introduced, human adjusts, human falls in love, subsequent pony falls in love with human, marriage, the end. But what a lot of stories don't tell is that the human eventually dies. It could be dying on the field of battle, locked in combat with some immortal foe. Or maybe he slowly succumbs to the sands of time in the background of other, more important things. It eventually happens whether we like it or not.

But what happens after that?... Does he fade from the minds of his friends over time? Completely forgotten in all but a statue and an inscription in the royal gardens?

...

Or does he stay at the forefront of their thoughts? Forever remembered by his wife in a desperate attempt of find some way to bring him back to life while all those around her keep telling her to move on, "forgive and forget they say", "move on" they say.

"No" she said. "NO!" she yelled in their faces!

She will wait for all eternity if need be, just waiting for the day that she can have her love monkey back!

...

Well give it a couple thousand years of technological advancement, some descriptions and blueprints ripped off of his iphone, and a major problem that requires a very special approach and we've got ourselves either a recipe for success or a botched clusterfuck of epic proportions.

...

Welcome back Jacob...

Authors notes: I have seen so many good stories here, some that are more than worthy of big budget book publishers... And I want to be one of them. So it is with this that I ask you.

Don't use lube.

Be as critical and analyzing as you can. Spot everything you can that would make this story better whether it be better descriptions, better dialogue, the way a character reacts to a situation, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING!

Cover art credit goes to this awesome guy.

Edit: Removed the Dark tag because nothing really dark actually happens, I just didn't know what it actually meant at the time the story was posted.