//------------------------------//
// 25. planning for the Gala  
// Story: Sage of Harmony (Season 1) 
// by Eon Seb 
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	Midnight just finished going over the basic plans for the Gala. Each of her friends were invited 'as friends of the royal suitor' but Luna had plans that would bring each of them into the Lunar court for different reasons.
Rarity was going to be invited to be the official dress maker of the Lunar court. Nightmare enjoyed her styles, and her business practices and knew through her dreams she would not abuse the position, (well, too much anyway).
Applejack was going to be offered a contract for her family to be the main suppliers of produce for all court functions, and have the title the family should have received after founding not just one but now 2 towns bestowed. In other words, they would then be Land Barons; the most basic of nobility.
Rainbow was going to be offered the position as the captain of the new Shadowbolts, with training from Spitfire to get her up to par. They were quite sure she would say yes.
Pinkie had been kind enough to let Twilight have a copy of her party plans and planning methods. After reviewing them, Nightmare wanted her as the court's event organizer. Her style may be strange but a bit of explanation should help her build some of the greatest events seen in Canterlot since the death of Puddinghead.
Fluttershy, after a metric ton of encouragement, was going to reveal herself at the next Gala and be announced as a new noble. She would normally receive  the title of Countess at the most. But, with her actual title (though she rarely used it) being Queen, they might be able to swing her being a Duchess and not give the current nobility a collective heart attack.

Now if only they could convince the girls to stop acting so stupid about it! They all knew the plan for Fluttershy because it took all of them to convince her to agree to it. But AJ had wanted to bring a cart and stall to sell apples, even when they explained how the Gala normally ran. It took Midnight, Velvet, Cadence, and Nightmare (clone) a total of, four hours! To convince Applejack to just come and enjoy the party. She'd had an easier time pulling out Spectrum's baby teeth!
Rainbow had been convinced to spend the night with Shy so that was okay.
Rarity was not hearing anything against her plans to woe the buffoon of Canterlot. Midnight thought she was doomed to fail but wished her luck.
Pinkie was odd (shocker?). She was convinced quite easily to behave once they explained what type of party the Gala actually was. She was disappointed at first, but cheered up when she realized that this was how the normal guest wanted the party to be, and that they were going to turn quite a few of those expectations on their head.

Canterlot

Nightmare had just finished preparing all the paperwork to rush in the new court members. All that she need was the relevant signatures which she would gather at the Gala. She had also taken the liberty of preparing the area for younger guests in anticipation of her daughter and her friends' antics. They could have a small party of their own without disturbing the other guests until it was time for the big reveal.
She felt absolutely giddy with anticipation. Not only would her sister be awake for the Gala, not only would she be able to announce her heir to the world (as she had wanted since first meeting her), but if she played her cards right, she'd be able to get rid of the remaining threats to the royal family at the next Gala on her terms. It felt good to be the mare in charge, sometimes.

Lair

After months of searching, he had found it! The one foolproof way to unseat a royal. He could not believe that law was still in place. "Note to self: remove law as soon as I gain power". All he had to do was beat one of the Princesses, or their chosen champion, in a sanctioned duel with high enough stakes and he could take their throne as spoils. It would be risky; he'd have to put all the political power he had on the line to get this to work; but he could handle it. After all, one of them was half drained and the other just got back from the moon. They would be in no condition to fight, and he could overpower any unicorn in Canterlot. No other pony would be brave or crazy enough to take part in a magic duel. There was no way this could fail! With this final thought, the former unicorn swung his head back and roared with the laughter of the mad and morally corrupt.