How can a pony, overshadowed by a dark past, taunted by her own self-conflict and doubt, ever hope to be able to shed the burden of being Nightmare Moon?

Nyx isn't sleeping well. For weeks, her dreams have been visited by a strange specter that haunts her, each dream growing more horrible than the last, her fears gaining a greater hold on her. As time passes the phantom draws closer, forcing Nyx to face the realm of the supernatural. Soon, the filly will be thrust into a world of wonder and imagination, where light and shadow are made into one, and everyone, and everything, deserves a second glance.

Author's Notes:

This story was proof-read and edited by EverfreePony, Scaramouch, and Salty Alty.

Test read by Blackyoshi and Lucondrix.

Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke, and I take no credit in the creation of her character.

Cover art drawn by Folklore17 and colored by 0ndshok.

This story is an unofficial but spiritual sequel to Past Sins and Scarred Hearts. Reading them is recommended, but not necessarily required.

It is the year 2090, 13 years after the Great War ravaged the majority of Equestria, as well as most of the known world. Life is tough, and it will be a long while before things get better.

Drastic measures must be taken to ensure survival; but how far is too far? For some of the newly formed communities, this question must be asked time and time again... And going too far could result in disaster.

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"It is when Oppression becomes a fact, that Revolution becomes a duty." This statement was made by those freed from tyranny for decades, until they were finally extinguished in the fires of Megaspell warfare. What everypony knows in the back of their heads however, is that tyranny never dies.

And for the crew of the Cirrostratus, A Thunderhead class vessel, this unfortunate truth has become their reality. A nascent Enclave has treated their sailors poorly for far too long, and have forced their mariners to work under inequine conditions and constraints for over a decade now.

With three thousand souls on board vying for freedom and a decent life, it presents a harsh reality. When not just survival, but their hopes and dreams, are put on the line, everypony has a choice to make. This is the story of those ponies, and the choices that circumstance forced them to make.
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Special thanks to Quindiesel and Duskhoof for editing and proofreading!

I now have a discord! Join me over at the Salt Shaker!

Byetkul. once called Equus in the West, Earth in the East, the name means "World we all share." Humans and ponies live on the same world, with humans having a different brand of magic than ponies. With human magitek, the past evils were all dealt with the first time with Great Machines housing the six Elements: Nightmare Moon was cured, Discord reformed, even the Changelings are a friendly power thanks to human intervention. All but a mythical "Great Nothing" were dealt with in full.

9-year-old Kenny Draper, a human boy from the Hominian Frozen North, is terrible at all magic that isn't Water, but is smart for his age: A total nerd. His life is about to change forever when a tragedy brings about a chance meeting to brighten his life forever.

EDIT 5:20 PM MDT 3/24/2019: Popular box! Not quite Featured yet, but yes! Thank you, everyone who has read so far, and especially those of you who left votes. Thank you all so much!

This is a fic based on a dream I once had and the notes I took on it. I tried my best to iron out as much weirdness as I could and produce a properly-flowing story, since I saw the potential for a great fic in that dream. It may start out seeming like a slice of life fic, but I assure you, that time will pass, and we'll get to the adventure parts. The Self-Insert tag is just there as a precaution, as the dreamer (me) was the main character in the dream, but he has some traits I never did, both in strengths and weaknesses. More character tags will be added when other characters become relevant enough to actually be considered part of the main cast.
Special thanks to my co-author, Theboxcatgamer for assisting with this so much. This wouldn't have been possible without you. Thank you so much, man!
Additional thanks to Schattendrache and doomie-22 for the editing, proofreading, and supporting authoring (yes, I just made that term up. No, I'm not getting rid of it) you two have provided thus far. You've also been a big help!