//------------------------------//
// Ch. 14. Old Friends and Older Truths  
// Story: Sage of Harmony (Season 1) 
// by Eon Seb 
//------------------------------//

	Fancy Pants was a smart stallion with a good head on his shoulders, which is why his first thought upon seeing the new look of the new Princess was to make sure his daughter was paying attention. "Watch closely, Fleur. I believe we shall be bearing witness to one of the most fantastic mind-bucks of our time. and we will get to see many of our fellow nobles make fools of themselves, again."
Fleur giggled softly "Yes father, this should be fun"
Nightmare made no indication if she heard them, but her smile became a bit more hungry. "Time to start the show" She motioned to the guard at the door to open court for the day.  Shining had never been happier to be on door duty. He may be  captain, but a bad training session the previous day had taken both the assigned guard and his substitute out of commission. Thus, Shining decided to fill the spot himself today disguised as a normal guard. Cadence was here as well at Luna's request 'so she could see what an average day in court was like'. Now she realized it had just been an excuse to have her there as someone the nobles could not bribe, or order to keep quiet.

(Luna's general appearance by Gerviousfan  )

Most of the nobles had been talking among themselves before court began when they brought their collective attention (Little as there was) to the Princess the reaction was immediate.  Most of them just stared taking in the bat like wings and curved horn before blinking/shrugging and getting ready for the day. A few, however, had very extreme reactions. The most noticeable example was the ever-so-loved ( by the press) Prince Blueblood who lead the charge.  Namely, he was the first pony to pass out and be carried to the hospital.  Although he fainted first, however,  he was the last to regain awareness.

Meanwhile

While Nightmare was causing yet another big wave in Canterlot, Midnight was consoling Rarity, as the only one of her friends who had not been involved in the dress fiasco with Hoity Toity. She had been involved in a meeting with the mayor which ran longer than expected  The good news was she got the mayor to agree with a new plan for Winter Wrap Up. The bad news she had not been around to try and talk the girls out of 'helping' Rarity. To be fair, she would have tried as well if she had been there at the time, but Rarity did not need to know that.
After she calmed down and agreed to speak with the others (who apologized ) they all started working on setting up a new fashion show using only her designs. Midnight decided to go find Hoity. She had met the stallion and his wife Photo Finish many times in the past and, while she was not the best of friends with them due to their normal behavior, she had seen the true side of them in more ways than one.
"Miss Sparkle? How are you? Haven't seen you for years! Ever manage to get your cutie mark, young lady?" This was the Hoity she could deal with, the polite if direct  stallion who had chased her and his daughter Vinyl around the block for (somehow) causing a cheese explosion with a sub-woofer. On the bright side, Scratch got her mark out of it, so they considered the sore flanks worth it.  
She had been able to re-connect with several of her old friends recently (including Vinyl and Lyra who she had met during a music concert). Through them she also met Octavia and Bonbon. She was happy to help them when they both finally decided to tell their significant others what they were.
Vinyl is a Karkadann, not a surprise considering her whole family are of the night tribes. Octavia had been shocked but after being brought around (with smelling salts) she only had one question  "You don't plan on eating me anytime soon, right?" Vinyl's vehement denial and clams of slander had them in stitches.
Lyra was a bit harder to prove as she is a Kelpie (Siren in MLP); the cousin to the Hippocampus or sea pony. They had to dunk her in a salt water bath to break the transformation. Her horn was just an extension of her magic to help her play her music so in her true form it was absent. However, Bonbon had just looked at her before asking if she should add fish to their dinner plans, or would that be rude?
Midnight could not have been happier for her friends and now she was happy to help another "Things are going well Hoity. Listen, I know the last dress show was a flop but we put another one together, it would mean a lot to the budding designer if you came." He agreed after a few minutes this is where she got serious. "Hoity I want you to give your honest opinion, no over statement's, no grandstanding, no being the Plot hole of the fashion world you like to play for kicks."- Here she gained a nasty smirk-" and to make sure your honest, if you try to back out of this or give an answer I know is false or hurtful on purpose. The local paper will be getting a hold of some very nice photos of you, and you won't have your shades to hide behind. Mr Diomidian . "
Hoity's eyes widened. Memories surfaced of weeks spent looking for those photos this little foal had taken of him and his wife.  They had  found all the physical copies but the negatives had vanished. He also vividly remembered when she stole his family's collection of sunglasses after they all scared the crap out of her one Nightmare Night. She never tried to do anything truly malicious before, so Why would she use them now? "Why are you trying to pull this, Twilight? I don't recall ever doing anything to piss you off this bad-"
He was brought up short when she smiled kindly at him "I just want you to stop hiding. Your Princess has returned the night tribes can come out of hiding now, and stand beside their monarch in the new age of Equestria."
Hoity was very glad he still had his sun glasses. "She-she told you, when!?"
Midnight happily told him about her date and the Princess's confession, explaining in detail how she had dropped her disguise and was going to be taking her place as the dark alicorn .
Hoity paused to think but, what other answer could he give "Twilight I promise to give an honest review of this and every future fashion show I go to. No more being the douche canoe  as my daughter once said."-here he smirked "Throw in the negatives and I'll agree to take my shades off indoors from now on, once I speak with the Princess tonight." Midnight had explained how to summon a copy of Luna in the dream world to speak to her.
"Deal. Can you  leave the shades off with the girls? They already know about the Princess." He agreed and joined her on her walk back to the fashion show. The reaction to Hoity's true look bright purplish blue eyes with slit pupils and fangs was funny (for them). After everypony calmed down, however, they got the fashion show underway and He could say with complete honesty that it was one of the best he had been to in quite a while.
The girls (especially Rarity)  were overjoyed to hear his honest and constructively critical opinion. They all went to bed that night in a good mood, though Midnight could not help but giggle at the shock Equestria would be getting over the next few days.