Let's dispense of the spoiler tag apart from the thread title, since everyone should go see the episode before reading this.

So... who's flat-out excited about there being this "evil entity" which apparently possessed Luna causing her to become freaking Nightmare Moon?!!! I mean... whoa that is precisely what Pen Stroke depicted (down to its physical description) and this episode practically hands compatibility to him on a silver platter. The evil entity in Past Sins seemed to defy MLP canon up until this point because there was never any hint in the show itself that such a thing existed. Most people considered Nightmare Moon to be purely Luna transformed out of jealousy, making Past Sins stand out as a significant deviation from canon. Not anymore!!

Not only that, but check out that awesome confession Luna gave at the end of the episode! Talk about exposing her guilt over her "past sins"...

Think of the implications for Nyx in all of this! It means that Nyx's origins are totally plausible, and that the smoke creature she fought was not a part of her which she would have lost once it was gone. It was more like a parasite. And its parasitic nature was shown in the episode today as well as in the brains of its victims in Past Sins. Perhaps it has two means of operation, but could easily be the same entity.

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This is giving me so many ideas for my own work, it aint even funny. I also just liked watching how that monster operated. The mane six being their usual awesome selves was also a nice touch.

Though carrot, really...Only speed and magic, what about strength, precision, empathy, and...Pinkie Pie

I alos liked how Luna was oing this to herself, showing how much she wanted to be a redeemer and to be a mare who put the effort onto her.

From Luna's last confession, I got the notion that the Tantabus was something she created out of her own guilt, not an outside force.
Still, it isn't any kind of stretch to turn it into the corrupting force from Past Sins, so let's have fun with that.

Tantabus also works in headcanons where NMM is an aspect of Luna's personality, one that's become a sort of second voice after the EoH did the purifying thing. That's the route I took with my own own fics, and now I kinda wish I hadn't already concluded the Luna/NMM internal conflict.

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Yeah, that's my interpretation as well. The Tantabus, in her dreams, was causing her to have a Nightmare of becoming Nightmare Moon over and over again. It was not the original cause of the Nightmare Moon transformation, but a self-induced punishment Luna created after the fact. Still, that actually supports Past Sins better. Though the descriptions of the entities are the same, the "blessing" in Past Sins was never an external parasite. It was a portion of Luna/Nightmare Moon that housed all the hate, jealous, and other driving emotions that made her become Nightmare Moon in the first place. It was the worst portion of Luna making other ponies worse, much in the same way the Tantabus was spreading to give more ponies nightmares.

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So... who's flat-out excited about there being this "evil entity" which apparently possessed Luna causing her to become freaking Nightmare Moon?!!!

Nope. The Tantabus was created by Luna, precisely so she could constantly have the nightmares about becoming the Nightmare.
Furthermore, the Princess created the Tantabus after being defeated by the Mane 6, not before she became the Nightmare in the first place.

I wonder if this effects any of the plans Pen Stroke has for his current Past Sins story.

4540656 It also sort of fits my head canon. NMN was a split persona of Luna that eventually took over. When the two were separated by the Elements, NMN, filled with Luna's desires for eternal night, possesses ponies to fulfill that dream, though the desires of the possessed seep in, like Eternal Night and Fashion for Rarity.

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Oh! Of course! I was too busy fanboying over all the fantastic and hilarious events of the episode, I forgot the line where she claims to have created the entity herself. Though - that one line with "I created" is rather pivotal in the origin story. Without it, one could easily assume that the Tantabus creatred NMM.

The notion that Luna actually was capable of (intentionally or not) creating a separate living thing that was originally a part of herself is pretty incredible. And yes, even if the Tantabus wasn't the origin, it certainly does fit nicely into the Past Sins story as the creature which had infected all those ponies. I mean... that all by itself provides the necessary attachments to make the story not that much of a leap from MLP.

Here's an interesting thought point on all of this. If Luna created the Tantabus as a sort of self-flagellation originally, it could be said that this was not intentional but rather, a byproduct of her guilt, right? It demonstrates the power of the alicorn while also showing Luna to be a fairly vulnerable personality. And if you follow along in its effects on her, it clearly got out of control and Luna then had no choice but to remain its victim until she had the necessary help to be free of it. In the same respects, the "blessing" had identical parasitic and virulent effects, and only when Nyx freed others of its infection could they be free as well. That seems to be the most profound parallel between the "blessing" and the Tantabus.

Naturally, this whole phenomenon can be mined to death for side stories. The concepts from this episode have pretty deep potential. I like how the episode confirmed that Luna's dream-warden ability is unique to her and Celestia cannot do it. Also validated is the notion that Luna herself is not all-powerful when performing this role, and thus, some things are just too much for her.

In my own story, I'll have to decide how much this might change things (if it would be a benefit at all). It even impacts the cruel irony I included with the notion of "Nightmare Moon has Nightmares". I start out with Nyx herself in a nightmare, and in my story, nightmares are one of the early signs that an alicorn will soon transform into a nearly-unstoppable force unless they "find their virtue". How much this parallels with Luna (who already had found her virtue) becoming later corrupted is questionable. I originally worried that this made Luna an unexplainable exception to the rule, but having the Tantabus be an independent entity (regardless of its origins) helps explain that to a degree. Or I could stick with the "Fall of the Crystal Empire" explanation that Luna was separated from her virtue by Sombra's dark magic, thus allowing her natural passions to get out of control. Either way, it may be worth adding some Tantabus-related content into side stories though, for all of us!

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might not have gotten the whole thing and I dont want to rain on hopeful parades lol but wasn't the tantabus created by Luna to punish herself AFTER she came back?
... I mean it would be freaking awesome if this Tantabus was like Nyx in some sort of larva stage or something, but I think she was kinda clear on that the tantabus was created by luna as a means of punishing herself and reminding herself that she has done great wrongs. But yeah, still the episode and the story are great kinda hand in hand bits that I quite enjoy ^_^

Dude, even before I saw this thread, I could see making the story with the use of the Tantibus. I'm glad I'm not the only one who see's this.

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In addition to what was said earlier, I will point out that what you described in the OP wasn't even the Tantibus but does indeed exist in MLP canon. Remember Nightmare Rarity? She was the result of Rarity getting possessed by a smoke creature very much like what's described in the OP.

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Wow, ancient post resurrection alert!

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This thread was on the 1st page of the topic list. And most forums' necroposting rules only consider a post a necropost if the post was in a topic that both hasn't seen activity for over a month, AND has fallen off the topic list's 1st page. My post did indeed find itself in a topic that didn't find a response in a month. But it didn't find itself in a topic that was listed on page 2, 3, or so on, of the topic list.

4540486 Nyx is canon now.

Except because of the rule saying they can't use ideas from fanfics she'll be named Nox and have blue mane making her an original character of mlp.

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Proof?

5770566 its a joke about the Button mash and Derpy/Muffins stuff.

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I'm writing a story called "A Nightmare in Eidolon" with this concept, except the entity presented is a neutral party, in that it wouldn't hesitate to corrupt an unprepared and ignorant pony with its darkness, Like Luna and Sombra, but at the same time, if it's respected, it'll serve that pony instead