Spell Nexus stood at the top of the stairs that led down into the grand ballroom of the Lunar Palace, scratching his false beard contemplatively. Mixed feelings, indeed, being back in this place, and under such circumstances. He popped another orange gumdrop in his mouth and chewed as he surveyed the room.

Not a year past, a moment's folly had resulted in his... corruption... by the remnants of magic of Nightmare Moon. Under its mind-warping influence, he had corrupted others, gathering a following dedicated to Nightmare Moon's rebirth. Astonishingly, he had succeeded. The celestial sisters had been imprisoned, Nightmare Moon had taken the throne of Equestria, and Night Eternal had reigned.... and all of Equestria had nearly been destroyed as a result, first by the ever-deepening cold of a sunless world, then by the monsters of the Everfree. The monsters of Tartarus would have weighed in as well, he was sure, only they would have arrived to find Equestria already destroyed twice over....

Only by the thinnest of margins and by the greatest of miracles had his plans been thwarted--- by Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's prodigy, and by the reborn Nightmare Moon herself. Or perhaps in the end he should say he was defeated by something more basic... a mother's love?

Either way the Princesses had been freed, the endless night had been broken, and the monsters of the Everfree driven back to their lairs. Even he and his "cult" had been cured, purged of the contaminating magic that had enslaved them. Nexus popped another citrus candy in his mouth. Would that he could be purged so easily of the guilt that still ached in him. Oh, forgiveness had been extended... even Night-- Nyx, he corrected himself--- even Nyx had been adamant; he was not at fault. But his guilt would not fade. Especially when he was here, in the former castle of Nightmare Moon, the palace he himself had helped design.... despite all the renovation and rebuilding and all the extensive redecoration, everywhere he looked he saw shadows of his own malevolent hoofwork.

Sometimes, he thought, it feels as if my past sins are treading on my very fetlocks, looming behind me like some awful doom.... A cold draft blew over his shoulder. He shivered, turning around to see what door or window the errant breeze had entered.

And found himself nose-to-nose with Nightmare Moon. Her umbral mane writhed about her like a corona of snakes, her glowing cat-pupiled eyes gazing into his.

"Boo."

True to reports, Spell Nexus screamed like a filly. Orange gumdrops flew everywhere as he flipped clean over backwards and landed on the floor in a crash of jingle bells.

The gaunt, towering form, serpentine mane and cruel armor melted away. By the time Spell Nexus had untangled his costume and gotten to his feet, the spectral form had been replaced by that of Princess Luna... who was laughing so hard she was having trouble standing. She leaned against a nearby marble column, wings wrapped around her barrel, laughing till tears rolled down her cheeks.

Spell Nexus struggled to maintain his dignity as he straightened his costume out, glaring--- well, actually pouting-- at the princess all the while. She gained control of herself and wiped her eyes with a wing. "Tis a grand 'Starswirl the Bearded' costume, good Nexus," she said between giggles. "Thou didst even get the bells right. Though," she continued, her grin widening, "I confess that Starswirl never did scream in quite that high an octave..." her words dissolved in gales of laughter again.

Spell Nexus looked aggrieved. "Making merry at a poor old schoolmaster's expense, your Highness? Really?" he sighed.

        Luna chuckled and, with a sweep of her horn, gathered the headmaster's scattered gumdrops, rebagged them and levitated them over to him. He accepted them with ill grace. "Be at ease, Spell Nexus," she said. "Tis but a jest from friend to friend, on a night made for such revelry. I meant thee no ill."

Nexus grumbled a bit and ate a gumdrop to calm himself. "I'm sorry, Princess Luna," he said. "I am a bit on edge tonight."

Luna looked concerned. "Is there ought amiss?"

Spell Nexus pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "No, I am just... I suppose the surroundings do put me a bit ill at ease. Too many shadows and memories here---" he shook his head. "Never mind. Please disregard an old stallion's maunderings."

Luna dimpled. "Immortal you may be not, but thou art far from old, Spell Nexus. And to a puissant unicorn age is but a little matter of choice and perspective." She grew a little more serious. "I did claim this place and remake it, in the hopes of purging it of the past.... But if thou art set too ill at ease by thy memories of this place, please, do not feel ashamed to take thy leave...."

Nexus shook his head again and straightened his shoulders. "No, no, that would defeat the purpose of even coming here," he said. "I wanted to see the new Palace of the Moon. Wanted to purge those memories for myself, as well." He smiled. "After all, what better opportunity for a symbolic change than a masquerade?" He munched quietly on a hoof-full of gumdrops.

Luna caught the citrus scent of the gumdrops and smiled. "Tis a strange thing..." she said.

"Hm?" Nexus said, his mouth full.

"That one so in love with a fruit of the sun as thee would have had been so adamant to bring about the endless night," she teased. "One would imagine the very thought of the orange trees of Equestria withering away would have shattered the hold of Nightmare Moon's magic over thee in an instant."

Spell Nexus stopped chewing. It was a well-known fact that he absolutely adored oranges. Oranges, orange candies, orange sherbet, orange soda--- he drank orange juice the way other ponies drank fine wine or aged brandy. "Withered away? What a ghastly thought," he said aloud. "Which brings me to mind; I have wondered how your sister and you actually divide up the duties of leadership, now that you two are.... ah, closer to par." He addressed, of course, Luna's own restoration to full power. She was still a touch smaller than her sister, but the magic she had absorbed in reforming Nyx had made her fully equal in power with Celestia for the first time in over a millennium. "Much has been made of how your authority is equal, but...mind I mean to cause no ill feeling but it strikes me that the Princess of the Night might be less inclined to oversee things like, say, agriculture..."

"No ill feeling taken, Spell Nexus," Luna said. " Agriculture is, of a truth, not my forte'. Far better that the Princess of the Sun should be addressed in matters of the harvest. Though not to say I do not oversee some few such things--- nature doth not cease with the setting of the sun, after all." Spell Nexus nodded. He had seen the gardens commissioned for the Castle of the Moon; they were almost an inverted reflection of the ones at Canterlot... the paths wandered through beds awash with evening primrose, four o'clocks, night bloom water lilies, moonflowers, gladiolus, and countless other species of night blooming plant, and nocturnal creatures large and small rustled among the bushes.... a subtle reminder that half of every day was, indeed, night.

Luna's smile turned wry. "And neither doth the work and play of my little ponies," she said. "In millennia past there were few duties for my Night Watch, save the guarding of the gates and of those few caravans bold enough to travel in the dark. Today? I may not control the stars, but I find myself commissioning workmen to light the highways and byways of Equestria till the land below Canterlot is more ablaze than the night skies above, and I send out as many keepers of the peace to watch the night as my sister does to watch the day.

"And, of course, there are always the astronomers...." She rolled her eyes. "Wouldst thou believe that many would petition the throne for largesse to build a great ship to sail to the moon? I have assured them that I have been there and tis really NOT worth the trip, but still they plead..."

Nexus blinked at her. "Forgive me, but I thought you were imprisoned IN the moon.... not ON it..."

Luna waved a hoof. "Truth, but I didst return there some short time after my freedom-- to walk its surface, and purge myself of old memories. Twould ill serve me to be unable to look upon mine own Moon without pain."

"So what is it like?"

"Dusty. Very dusty." The princess stuck out her tongue. Spell Nexus chuckled at her expression. "There is air there, and dust, and rocks, and nought else, alas." She pondered for a moment, hoof to chin. "Though our world doth look lovely in the sky from there. Mayhap if I did bring sufficient water to its surface, and perhaps some seed.... hmmm." She pondered the notion of a Moon in bloom. Perhaps with a colony of ponies of its own.... Mayhap I see the allure of yon ship-builder's plan, she thought.

"It's all about setting aside the past these days isn't it?" Spell Nexus said thoughtfully.

"Aye, and there will be more than a few here tonight whom I hope will set them aside with thee," Luna said.

Nexus winced. "Ah yes, the Bearers of the Elements.... Twilight Sparkle especially," he said with a sigh. "And Nyx," Luna added pointedly. Nexus winced again. Tonight was going to have more than its fair share of-- awkward moments.

"Oh, make not that face," Luna said. "Tis not only you that will find a few moments difficult. Imagine how it is for the child!"

"Hmmm," Spell Nexus said, noncommitally. He wondered briefly; when the Princess said "the child," did she mean Nyx... or Twilight Sparkle? To Nexus, Twilight was still the child prodigy, barely just arrived at his school before she was right back out the door with her first degree....

"Which reminds me--- I must be going," Luna said. "I do have things to tend to this night, after all. I shall speak to thee later, Spell Nexus," she said, and vanished in a puff of smoke and light.

Nexus shook his bag of candies, shrugged, and upended them as he watched the first guests trickle in. It was going to be a very eventful night, he suspected.

The ponies gasped and chattered with one another as their carriages drew up single file to the castle. Luna's architects had done a stunning job; while the palace retained much of its original form, they had subtly changed things here and there, widening the windows, opening the spaces around and through it so that the grim and ominous building now seemed less to loom and more to float, light and serene as a midnight dream. Fairy lights of many colors--- and not a few of the changeling-thwarting emerald lamps--- lit the ramparts and windows and crenelations and illuminated the entryways, their reflections glimmering in the moat.

Rainbow Dash had to remark on that one. "Wait, I don't remember there being a moat," she said as they made its way across it via a low stone bridge. "What good is a moat anyway? Most everything in Equestria can fly."

"It's probably so they could have some place to put the night blooming water lilies," Ink Spot said, pointing at the water.  "And I think I see goldfish swimming down there...."

"Really?" Up to this moment, Fluttershy had been curled up in the back of her carriage, huddled in a corner next to Caramel with her eyes squeezed tight shut. It had taken all of her nerve to get this far on Nightmare Night, and she had been reduced to hiding her eyes to keep the passing ghosts, goblins, jack o lanterns and other ubiquitous decorations along the way from unraveling her completely. The thought of seeing some pretty flowers and some friendly goldfish, however, was enough to bolster her courage. She opened her eyes and leaned out the side, peering down into the moat.

Just as she stuck her head out of the window, something huge, green, glowy-eyed and possessing way too darn many teeth erupted from the water. It loomed over the bridge, long slimy jaws snapping. "GATOR!" Rainbow Dash shrieked, falling backwards. Everyone on the bridge screamed. The enormous reptile growled, its stubby forelegs wobbling about---

Then slowly sank back into the water with a hiss of escaping air. Twilight leaned forward, squinting, horn glowing to illuminate the creature. "It's rubber!" she exclaimed.

"What?"

"It is, it's a big rubber inflatable," Twilight insisted. "I saw the seams. It's a prop! It must be rigged to lunge up out of the water whenever anypony crosses the bridge."

         Relieved laughter greeted this announcement. "Looks like Princess Lulu has a few pranks of her own planned," giggled Pinkie Pie. Chuckling, they all settled back in their seats--- only to realize that in one carriage there were four dainty yellow legs pointed at the sky. "Anypony give me a hoof here?" Caramel pleaded. "She won't move...."

"Oh dear," Rarity sighed."Just take her forehoof and rub it, Caramel," she said. "She'll come to in a moment...."

They had de-petrified Fluttershy by the time the carriages pulled into the courtyard. They dismounted and made their way, two by two, up the wide steps leading to the palace doors. Just as they reached them, the oaken panels swung wide of their own accord. In a swirl of mist and fog, out stepped a stallion. He was dressed in full plate armor clear down to his hooves. It was black as night, and was festooned with cobwebs that swirled in the night breeze. He clanked ominously with each ponderous step.

And he had no head. Just an empty collar where darkness and mist swirled.

The girls(1) all screamed again. There was an audible bleat and a "whump" as Fluttershy keeled over. "Not again," Caramel said, quickly kneeling to try and revive his date.

The armor took another hesitant step forward. "Twily?" it said, with a metallic echo. Twilight blinked. The headless horse's hooves reached up to where its head should have been. There was a clank and the clinking of a catch being undone. The hooves pulled away and a helmet materialized between them... and a head appeared where the empty neck had once been. The captain of the guard grinned, shaking out his mane.  "Twily, it's me, Shining Armor!"

"Shining Armor?" Twilight exclaimed. She dashed up the steps to him. Shining managed to drop his helmet and raise his foreleg in defense as she cuffed him soundly around the shoulders. "Don't do that ever again!"

The captain of the guard just laughed. "Just doing my duty, little sis..." he chuckled and gave her a hug, which she reluctantly returned. "Glad you could make it to the ball, little sis. It's good to see you again. The little crumb crusher with you?"

"No, Nyx will be coming up with the rest of the village foals," Twilight said, thawing a little in her brother's hug. She'd always hated how he pranked her on Nightmare Night. "What are you doing wandering around dressed like the Headless Horse?"

"Oh, Cadence and I are here as royal guests ," he said. "But Luna asked for volunteers to help out with the Haunted Castle and I couldn't resist. She's got me and a bunch of the guard running around dressed up in costume to give the foals a little scare and hand out treats, that sort of thing."

"I can see she went all out on the costume," Twilight noted.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Shining Armor picked up the helmet. It was a dull matte black, and to Twilight's senses hummed faintly with magic. "Invisible helmet. Princess Luna herself enchanted it."

"They're making suits of invisible armor for the guard?" Twilight wondered.

"Ehh, nah," Shining Armor said. "It's a neat trick but it's too heavy and noisy to be much use. I sound like a runaway junk wagon when I try to sneak around in it. But the helmet works great for Nightmare Night." He looked Twilight over. "Aaand might I add you have a pretty snazzy costume going there yourself, sis..."

Twilight blushed. "Little something Rarity and I put together," she said. "Oh, let me introduce you to everyone. You already know Rarity..." She ran through the introductions rather quickly. "...and this is Ink Spot... um, my date for the evening."

"Pleased to meet you, Shining Armor," Ink Spot said, nodding. "Nice to meet Twilight's brother at last."

Shining Armor scrutinized him like he was reviewing a soldier at parade review. "well, Twily vouches for you," he said finally with a raised eyebrow and a quirky grin. "So just consider this my obligatory big-brother greeting and death threat."

"Shining---!" Twilight stamped her hoof.

"Understood, Sir Shining," Ink Spot chuckled. "Your sister is in good hooves, I promise you."

"Relax, Twily, I like him," Shining Armor murmured to his sister. "He's got a trustworthy face--- well, what I can see of it behind that mustache...."

"Shining...."

"Okay okay. Ahem. Everyone, if you'll follow me, I'll lead you to the Masquerade..." There was a round of applause and everyone fell in behind the Captain of the Guard.

They made their way through gaily decorated hallways to the entryway to the castle ballroom--- which was closed tight, and had two rather officious looking ponies in tux and tails standing in front of it. they were identical, right down to their cutie marks, save that one was a pegasus and one was a unicorn. "The bearers of the elements of harmony, and guests," Shining Armor informed them.

"Thank you, Prince Armor," the unicorn said. "We shall announce them shortly." Shining Armor nodded.  "I'm afraid I must get back to work," he said. "The Duchess Winterbottom is about to arrive, and I fully intend to scare her right out of her bustle." Everyone chuckled. Shining nodded to the two ponies again and, bowing to his sister's friends, took his leave.

There was a pause. "Well," Twilight said. "Shall we go in?"

The two ponies froze. They looked at one another, engaging briefly in some silent conversation.

Pomp and Circumstance were on the horns of a dilemma. They were desperately trying to save Luna from herself, and keep her from alienating all the nobility in Equestria in a single night. To that end they had conceived a last-ditch plan. They had rearranged affairs to subtly divide the Masquerade into two parties: one for the common ponies, held within the confines of the greater ballroom, and one for the upper-crust high society ponies, held (along with her Highness, Princess Luna) in the throne room right next door. The parties were separated by only an empty archway, and one hell of a lot of sound and light dampening magic---- and one very complex ignore-me-I'm-not-interesting spell they had worked together decades to perfect. If they were very careful, they could maintain the illusion with the Princess that the nobility and the common ponies were mingling, without either group actually coming into contact.

And now this.

The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. Friends of Princesses Celestia, Luna and Cadenza.... one of them even related by marriage. Instrumental in saving Equestria not once, not twice, but three times. Among them a high fashion designer, a champion aeronaut and hero of the young flier's competition, a former fashion celebrity, an influential farming businesspony, and the student apprentice of Princess Celestia herself.

And the six ponies who had so utterly trashed the Grand Galloping Gala that it made headlines for almost a year.

If they put them in the main ballroom with the commoners, Princess Luna was certain to inquire after their absence, at which point the whole ruse would fall apart.

But if they put them into the throne room with the nobility and nouveau riche....

Grand Galloping Gala.

Pomp and Circumstance, contrary to Luna's suspicions, could not in actuality read each other's minds. They could, however, think so alike that they could practically hold an entire conversation without saying a word. Pomp quirked an eyebrow over his monocle. What now?

An eyebrow quirked in return gave the answer. Watch them. Pomp whimpered silently, but his brother was right. It would take a personal touch with all six to keep them from breaking the charade--- or leveling the castle. "If you will all follow me," he said, leading them to a side door... that led, by a servant's access hall, straight to the throne room.

1)Promises were made to not tell which of the men screamed. So we shall only say Big MacIntosh was the only one who didn't.