> Ponyville Gala
>  by Lunarus Solaris Nexus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Invitation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Capital city of Canterlot, the most well known city in all of Equestria. The mountain top metropolis is home to thousands of the wealthiest ponies and half of the Governing Body of the whole nation. It was where they lived and worked. But sadly, that's all they did. Two months out of every year, the four Princesses and their Senators would convene and attempt to fix every issue they could. 
Princess Celestia and Colonel Firebrand dealt with the international relations, Princess Cadence and General Shining Armor handled the Healthcare system in Equestria, especially with their first child on the way. Princess Twilight and Spike managed the Education System and Princess Luna and Colonel Nexus worked with the people in and the National Defense. 
But when not handling their respective areas, they'd be juggling the budget of each town and city across Equestria and maintaining and ratifying the laws in existence. For the past few days, they'd been handling complaints about the budgets in Manehatten that had been on a steady down fall since week. Nexus and Firebrand and put together a plan to help it level off but it would take time. Cadence and Twilight didn't understand why.
In the council room, the seven ponies and one dragon listened to the red and blue unicorns as they explained their plan.
"A plan to fix it instantly still has a chance to fail." The dark red unicorn known as Firebrand explained.
"And if it fails, it would make it harder to fix and take even longer. If we have a plan that gradually effects the situation, there's still time to fix it in the case of it going wrong." The dark blue unicorn with metal legs referred to as Nexus added.
"Well it sounds like you're confident." Princess Celestia said.
"Is it leveling off or not?" Nexus asked.
"Yes it is. What is your plan for when it levels then?"
"We're working on it Princess." Firebrand reassured. "So long as it levels off, we'll have time to work out something to bring it back."
"Well then, all in favor of continuing with the current Manehatten budget plan?" All eight of them raised their hoofs and that ended the debate.
"I'll be sure to keep up on it to make sure it's not going to tank." Nexus said glancing at his cracked watch. "And seeing as that was the last issue before the session was over, I believe we're done here."
"Indeed we are." Luna said sanding up.
"As always, Senate will be called back if needed." Celestia said following her sister.
Nexus let out a sigh in contempt and left towards the elevators as the others stayed behind and began their usual post session chat. He never had enough interest to stick around and listen. He always had enough work to keep him busy for the next two months after session so it was best to get on it ASAP. He rounded the corner and was once again thankful to see the elevator to the Tower of the Night. 
He clicked the button and watched the door slide open for him.
"Senator, wait!" Princess Twilight called to him running towards him. She skidded to a stop only a few feet from him and caught her breath.
"Well that's not lady like." Nexus joked.
"Ha ha. I almost never get tired of that." She replied sarcastically. "Going up?"
"Where else?" 
The two stepped into the elevator and Nexus hit the button for the top floor. He leaned onto the side and twisted his right rear ankle. It creaked slightly and Nexus let out a groan of mild pain. "I'm getting' old." he said dimly.
"Just change them out." Twilight insisted as the continued to rise.
"Not going to happen."
"Why are you so stubborn? That set's ten years old now? They're going to give out eventually."
"And I'll let 'em. They're one of a kind. The only plates of living metal there are in the world. The only set of mechanical legs that can feel like skin. They even radiate heat from energy usage that it didn't have before. There's no way I'm droppin' 'em just because they're a little old."
"Alright then Pack Rat." Twilight said with a slight giggle. "But your age isn't why I'm here."
Nexus glanced up at the illuminated numbers for a moment before deciding to play a little game. "You got until we stop to tell me exactly what you want and go."
"Oh! My friends and I had a party for when I officially moved to Ponyville in the castle and it turned into a full on celebration." Twilight said quickly. Three floors to go. "And I've been inviting the Princesses along with their advisers but I never get a chance to ask you."
"Why not have a letter sent to me or have Luna ask for you?" Two floors.
"You leave before I get a change and I have to get back as soon as we're done here."
"Could've done this before." less than one floor.
"So will you come to my Anniversary Gala?" *DING*
"No. Sorry." Nexus said as the doors opened.
"Why?" Twilight whined following out.
"You heard what I said when we adorned. I've got work to do."
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull pony."
"I don't like putting off my work. It takes a while and it might as well be taken out before it takes up more time. I can't spare a day."
"It's a full week event. I'm sure you'd love a week off."
"I would." Twilight smiled hearing him say that. "But I can't."
The two rounded the corner before coming to a nice oak door with a winged crescent moon carved at eye height.
"Do you ever take time off? Even I need some rest."
"The last time I took time off I died."
"I read the reports Nexus. There's nothing that can kill you in Ponyville. Just come down for a week. You can even bring your family."
"I'll be happy to send them." Nexus opened the door and walked in hoping to leave this conversation behind him.
"And you?"
"Again, thanks, but no thanks. I have a lot of work to do."
"Come on." Twilight pleaded following him inside. "You really think they'd go without you?"
"Who'd go with you where?" a light brown mare with a long black mane and blue eyes said trotting into the main living area from the spiral stair case. 
She stretched her wings and bowed to the Princess. Twilight bowed back and the pegasus stood straight before nuzzling Nexus under the chin.
"So what were you two talking about?" she asked leaning on Nexus.
"Twilight's just trying to invite us to her week long Gala in Ponyville, Dust."
"Oh that sounds fun. Why not?" Dust said happily.
"I could set you two up in the nicest room in the castle. And if you want, I could pay for you two to spend a day at the spa!" Twilight said.
"Ooo, That sounds really nice!" Dust said with enthusiasm.
"Why would I go to a spa?" Nexus asked. "Get a hooficure?"
"They have herbal baths. Maybe you could try one of them."
"Come on Lunar, it sounds like it'll be a great time." Dust pleaded.
"Where we goin'!?" a young voice called from the balcony.
A little navy blue pegasus with emerald green eyes and a single white streak in his light gray mane flew in.
"Astral." Nexus said gesturing to Twilight.
"Oh!" the little colt said realizing his faux pas. "It's an honor to see you again Princess Twilight Sparkle." He said bowing.
Twilight giggled and bowed back. "And to you as well young Astral Wind Nexus."
Astral quickly jumped up and hugged Nexus. "Where we goin'?"
"Princess Twilight has invited us to the Ponyville Gala. And your father's going to take us."
"Is Auntie Luna going to be there?"
"Auntie?" Twilight asked with an eye brow raised.
"She's already going. You can go talk to her before dinner if you want. You know what she likes to eat before dinner?"
"Powdered doughnut holes!" Astral gasped with excitement.
"Honey, he just had a flying lesson." Dust said. "I don't think he should have any sweets until after dinner."
"Aw, please Mommy!" Astral said putting on his big soulful eyes.
"Yeah, pwease Mommy?" Nexus said pushing out his lower lip in a similar pout.
Dust sighed in sadness knowing she couldn't resist her son's pouty face. Her husband's not so much. "Okay. Don't eat too many though. Don't want to spoil your dinner."
Astral's eyes lit up and he flew up and kissed her cheek happily. "Thanks Mommy!" he said shouting sprinting out the door.
"My, he's grown." Twilight said. "How old is he now?"
"Five and half. Sharp as a knife too." Nexus said with a look of aged pride.
"And what was with him calling Princess Luna, Auntie?"
"It wasn't my idea." Nexus said chuckling.
"First time Luna held him she told him she was his Auntie. And seeing as Lunar and I are only children, it wasn't an issue. It's kind of cute hearing him say that actually." Dust explained.
"You know, he can come too." Twilight said. "There'll be a kid's zone."
"Kid's zone?" Nexus asked.
"Pinkie Pie ropes off a whole section of town and turns it into a place just for kids to play and have fun."
"Really? We could bring Ephi too!"
"Ephi?"
"You'd know him as Ephilates. He married Hestaria just after Dust and I married. They even had a little girl too."
"I'll be sure to have a room for them too." 
"Come on Lunar. Pwease?" Dust said pulling the same face Astral made.
Nexus groaned in frustration. "He really does get it from his mother's side. FINE! Just enough with the eyes!"
"Yay! When will you have us?" Dust asked happily.
"Monday will be fine. I'll let the maids know to have my two best rooms ready."
"Thank you Princess."
"No worries. Have a nice day you two!" 
Twilight bowed to them and they both bowed back before she left. Nexus groaned slightly annoyed and glared at his wife.
"What?" Dust asked.
"You just love dragging me out of my comfort zone don't you?" Nexus asked putting fake anger in his voice.
Dust put on a mischievous smile and gave Nexus a kiss on the cheek. "Yes I do. Now help me pack my dresses." she said flicking her tail in his face as she trotted by. 
Nexus couldn't help but sigh smelling her shampoo as she did so. Dust giggled as he followed her up the spiral stair case.



In the room above the Nexus' apartment, Princess Luna was just settling into her cushion with a good book and her regale off when a quick succession of knocks came at her door. 
"It's open." she said thinking it was one of the servants with paperwork for her to fill out.
She was pleasantly relieved her favorite "nephew" happily running through the door. "Auntie Luna!" Astral shouted jumping at her forelegs wide open for a hug.
"Astral!" Luna set down her book and opened her forelegs to greet the young colt. 
Astral hugged the Princess of the Night around the neck as tightly as his five year old muscles could, the force of his jump nearly toppling her.
"Oh my." Luna said pleasantly surprised embracing the young pegasus. "You have grown haven't you?"
Astral let out a giggle as Luna poked his belly. "Auntie Luna, why don't I see you?"
"The explanation would be lost upon you little one." Luna explained setting Astral down next to her. "I along with your father are busy most of the time. I do wish I could spend time with you. But I know you don't come up here just for my company."
Almost on cue, a white pony in an a messy apron pushing a cart holding a single silver tray passed through the still open door. Luna levitated the dish and thanked the servant as she brought the tray down next to them. The servant bowed and reminded her that dinner was almost ready and she just waved them off. When she lifted the lid, the sweet, sugary smell of the powdered doughnut holes filled Astral's nose. He quickly leaned over the cushion they were sitting on and scarfed down three.
"Slow down." Astral looked up to Luna and gulped the mouthful of pastry. "We don't want you getting a … tummy ache!"
While Astral was looking up at Luna, she'd reached behind him with her wing and started tickling his tummy with the last feather on the end. Astral squealed with laughter and tried to get away but tripped over Luna's right foreleg. He tumbled over into her lap in a giggling mess, Luna laughing just as hard. Luna leaned over and kissed Astral's nose lightly. The young colt reached up and tapped Luna's nose with a smile. She smiled softly at him and nuzzled him as he giggled.
"I love you Auntie Luna." Astral said nestling into Luna's lap.
"I love you too little Astral. Now, what should we read today?" she asked looking up to her book shelf.
"Legend of the Shadow Pony!" Astral exclaimed happily.
"Bold choice." Luna said levitating a large but thin book from her shelf. "Will you help me read it?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay then." Luna popped a doughnut hole and opened to the first page as Astral reached for another doughnut hole.
As she read aloud, Astral followed along stumbling once or twice with a few words he didn't know. But Luna was more than happy to slow down and help him learn another word.
The first page had Celestia sadly bowing her head to the moon. On the adjacent page, a black unicorn mare in golden armor stood in the throne room of Canterlot Castle with Celestia pointing to the door.
A long time ago, the magical land of Equestria was saved from the eternal darkness of Nightmare Moon. The eldest sister abandoned the castle she once called home because after years of horrible dreams she would have at night. And even upon her leaving, the dreams still haunted her. One day, she asked bravest warrior to go to the castle and find the cause her many sleepless nights, certain it was something not of her control. Her name, was Gilded Heart.
Luna turned the page and took a doughnut hole in her mouth before continuing. The next two pages were the profile of the castle with Gilded Heart sitting outside the ruined gates.
"Despite the Princess' instance, Gilded Heart went alone to face the demon of the castle. She was not afraid of something she could not see. She walked into the castle and was overcome with dizziness.
"What happened?" Astral asked looking up to his aunt.
"Let us read on and find out." Luna replied with a smile.
The feeling soon passed and she continued through the passages. She soon heard whispers from the darkness around her. This is why she wished to face the creature alone. Lesser men would sooner run then face these voices. The sounds around her seemed to be coming from the stone bricks. As though the castle itself wanted her to leave.
"Did she leave?" Astral interrupted again taking another doughnut hole from the plate.
"Oh no Astral, she stayed the whole night."
"Does she beat the monster?"
"We shall continue to read to find out."
Luna turned the page to reveal the black mare lit by her, white glowing horn as she walked down a dark hall way. Behind her a set of white glowing eyes followed.
Gilded Heart was unfazed by the dark shadows around her. The sounds egged her on rather than scare her off. As she traveled deeper she could feel something behind her. Every time she peered behind her, she found nothing but the empty hall she was in. 
"I feel thy fear young one." a raspy voice called.
Gilded Heart froze in place and took in her current surroundings. From the corner of her eye she saw a shadow pass through the wall behind her. Gilded Heart ran quickly after the shadow thinking it could have gone down a corridor she missed; only to find nothing around but the wall. Gilded Heart couldn't feel anything.
"What was it?" Astral asked before stuffing another doughnut hole into his gob.
"Patience is a virtue little one. Though one you don't seem to have the privilege of having." Astral giggled as Luna continued.
"Show thyself coward!" She shouted to the shadows.
But no answer came. She tried to use her magic to push aside the bricks in the walls but her horn would not light. No amount of effort could she find her power. So instead, she was to find a way to the other side of the wall. As she went, Gilded Heart hummed a song her father use to sing to her when she was afraid. The melody soothed her nerves and helped keep her thoughts clear.
"Cowardice?" the voice mocked as she turned another corner. "Come closer and thou will learn the meaning of cowardice."
Gilded Heart was still undeterred by the voice.
On the next pages, Gilded Heart was back in the throne room where a black mass sat in the left throne.
"What's that Auntie Luna?"
"What are you?" Gilded Heart ask as she followed the catacomb like halls before her. Luna read to get Astral to pay attention. He quickly picked up with Luna as she continued.
She rounded a single corner before being back where she'd started in the throne room. In front of her, a dark force loomed over the youngest sister's throne; the vague outline of a pony inside. She asked her question again and was only met with a deep resonating laugh. The laughter didn't sound as though it was coming from the shadow itself, rather the castle itself.
"I am what thou fears most. I am the darkness within every creature of this land." The shadow said to her.
Gilded Heart stood firm and said loud enough that the beast was certain to hear, "If I am to slay thou, I must know thy name."
"I am known by many names Gilded Heart, but thou may call me Jugi, the Pony of Shadows."
"Have thou been tainting my Princess' dreams?"
"I have. And the same fate shall now befall thou!"
Luna was about to turn the page when a knock at the still open door came. She craned her neck around and saw a pair of light gray bat ponies waiting for her attention. One, much older than the other, had a pale purple mane and yellow, serpent-like eyes. On her back, the young one sat with her pale pink mane back in a pony tail and her yellow eyes fixed on the plate of half eaten sweets.
"I'm sorry to be interrupting anything Princess." the eldest one said as the filly hopped off her back.
She tried to stop the filly, but she ran straight for Luna and jumped to her back with a smile and hug.
"Hi Miss Woona!" the foal said happily hugging her.
"Hello to you Gale." Luna responded by nuzzling to top her her head.
"Night n' Gale," the older bat pony said trotting up to the three without waiting for Luna to say she could come in. "How many times have your father and I told you not to go into Princess Luna's room without her saying it's okay?"
"It is quite alright Hestaria. I do enjoy seeing your daughter." Luna replied. She noted Gale was constantly eyeing the doughnut holes as she looked to her mother and her. "What may I help you with?"
"It's dinner time. Nex said come up and see if Astral was still up here with you."
"Mommy?" Gale asked.
"Yes Sweetie?"
"Can I have one?" she asked pointing to the plate.
"After dinner Gale. If it's okay with Princess Luna."
"And how many times must I say that you may call me Luna, Hestaria?" Luna asked mimicking Hestaria's previous tone.
"Sorry Pr - Luna. I'm just not quite that comfortable saying that."
"You will adjust. Come Astral, time to eat." Luna said folding the corner of the page they were on.
"Aw! Please Auntie Luna, can we just get to the battle!?" Astral begged.
"We will pick up when I return from Ponyville next week."
"Next week! That's like a bazillion days!"
"Bazillion million days!" Gale added with a giggle.
"I promise we will finish it then. I have to pack tonight so I cannot finish the story after dinner. Remember what I said?"
"Patience is a virtue." Astral replied with a pout.
"Good. Now…" Luna gently pushed Astral off her lap as she stood up. She then levitated Gale down next to Astral as she started to take a step towards the door. "Last one down's a rotten egg!" With that she started to run out the door. Not so fast as to leave them behind; just enough for them to catch up.
The children ran as fast as they could past Hestaria who rolled her eyes and gave chase, strangely determined to not be last or at least have her daughter be last.
> Two Alicorns, Two Unicorns and Four Pegasi on a Train.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The next day, the train roared down the tracks from Canterlot. The train was utterly unique. Most trains were much smaller and themed depending on where they were built. The three cars on this particular train were lined with black iron and dark oak wood panels. The interior was even more extravagant. The front car was purely for cargo but the last two were meant for living. The last was sleeping quarters for eight. Red carpets and velvet pillows full of goose feathers.
The middle was usually used as a dining car, but for the passengers that occupied it at the moment it was a sitting room. Nexus' and Ephialtes' families along with Princess Luna, Celestia and Commander Firebrand chatted while Astral and Gale played in the isle. Firebrand, Nexus, Ephialtes and Hestaria shared as many stories that they could remember with the Princesses. 
"So let me get this straight." Firebrand said interrupting Nexus. "Your Phoenix was following your death spirals through the train tunnels, you lead him underneath an oncoming train at full speed and he breaks a wing on a branch?"
"Yeah poor guy hit it pretty hard." Dust added. "Looked like it was busted in four places."
"Who'd you have fix him up?" Celestia asked. "I know a great vet that has done the same for Philomena."
"Princess Twilight recommended her friend in Ponyville. He's been with her for a month now. Her letters say he should be fine around next week." Nexus said.
"Fluttershy is a great choice." Luna said. "I'm sure Raven Wing is having a wonderful time with her."
"I kind of miss him though. Really feels odd not giving him his daily flight. Hope he's not going stir crazy. I'm hoping to go see him after we've settled in."
"I'm sure he's fine Nex." Hestaria said. "I'll bet he just misses his papi."
Astral and Gale tumbled across the aisle "fighting", Gale nibbling on Astral's ear while holding his wings to his body.
"Your kid's a combat master like his old man." The red unicorn with black stripes said with a condescending tone.
"I'm not planning on teaching him how to be a soldier like my dad did me, Ephilates."
"I thought you were self taught?" Luna asked confused.
"My dad hit me with the basics of being a good soldier. I learned the rest myself."
"So you're standard issue?" Firebrand asked with as much fake seriousness he could put into such a sarcastic statement.
Everyone had a healthy laugh at the joke, even Nexus.
"So," Luna said looking to Ephilates. "Little Night n' Gale is certainly taking after her mother isn't she?"
"What?" Ephialtes wondered looking up from the children who weren't listening in the slightest.
"She's quite playful."
"And no offence, you're about as stuck up as Nexus." Firebrand intervened.
"Pot calling the kettle." Nexus replied with an eyebrow raised.
"You got enough metal to be both so I think I'm safe."
"I don't know," Dust said entering the verbal battle. "you're pretty hard headed yourself Brandy. I wouldn't be surprised if your head was as much metal as Lunar's legs."
"Oh come on Nex, you got her calling me that now too?"
"Oh yes. And I love it. Astral, I think that's enough roughhousing for today." Nexus said levitating his son away from Gale.
"Aw! I had her right where I wanted her." Astral complained.
"Did not!" Gale protested about to fly up and knock him away from Nexus to finish what she started. Ephialtes was kind enough to restrain his little creature as well.
"That goes for you too Gale." Ephi said sitting her in his lap.
"You're no fun Papi." Gale said leaning back into her father.
"I am too fun."
"Are not."
"Are too." he said with an heir of obviously fake anger.
"Are not." Gale replied starting to smile at Ephi's reactions.
"Are too!"
"Are not!" Gale was now giggling as she spoke.
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
"Gotcha!" Ephialtes shouted quickly ticking her belly.
Gale wailed in laughter as Ephi continued his onslaught. Hestaria had to move in and get him to stop before she wet herself. The little pink maned bat pony then climbed up onto her father's head and hung on to his horn as he leant back in his seat next to Nexus, who'd handed his son over to his wife.
"They've certainly grown haven't they?" Celestia asked with a smile.
"Yeah!" Astral said happily. "I'm gonna be as big and strong as Dad when I grow up."
"You don't wanna be like me Astro. You don't wanna be dumb, you wanna be smart like your mother."
"You're a fine role model Lunarus." Luna intervened. "He has a great man to look up to and a confident woman to help him."
"Thank you Luna." Dust said with a little blush on her muzzle.
"Attention," the engineer said through the speakers. "we will be arriving in Ponyville Station in about ten minutes. I say again ten minutes."
"Are you exited to get some time off Senator?" Hestaria asked Firebrand.
"I'm more than happy to get some time away from paperwork. But seeing as we have ten minutes." Firebrand's horn glowed red as he levitated a piece of paper and a quill & ink from his saddle bag. "I need you to sign this Nexus."
Nexus took if from him and pulled his reading glasses from his own bag. "Lunar, we're on vacation."
"Not until we get off the train we're not. I promise, once we step out of this train all of my attention is on you and everypony else."
"Is it odd I didn't know you had glasses?" Ephialtes asked.
"Kind of. I'm thirty-two and been looking at enough explosions that it would be absolutely asinine to assume I wouldn't have the need for them."
"Aw…" Astral and Gale said in harmony. "You said a bad word…"
"It's not a bad word." Nexus corrected.
"It sounded like one." Gale said still giggling.
"Are we going to have to go home and get the swear jar, Honey?" Dust asked.
Nexus shot a glare at Dust as everyone chuckled under their breath. 
"So this." Nexus said getting back to the paper. "What is it?"
"It's just my half of the budget plan ready to be integrated. I just need your signature to-"
"I know how it works Brandy. I'll read it after we get back. I don't really have time to right now to get a full idea of what I'm reading." Nexus said handing the paper back to him.
"Fair enough." Firebrand replied slipping the paper back into his saddle bags.
Gale looked over her shoulder and out the windows and nearly fell off her father's head when she caught sight of the brilliant Crystal Tree that was Twilight's Castle.
"Wow! Astral, come look!" she said hovering off his head.
Astral flew out of his mother's lap and pressed his face against the window with Gale. "Wow…" he said in awe, "It's bright."
"It's pretty." Gale added.
"That's where we're staying" Celestia pointed out.
"Cooooool…" They said together.
"Alright you two, down from the window before your faces fuse to it." Hestaria said pulling her daughter down. 
Astral came down on his own and took a seat next to his father. "Is there really going to be a whole part of town just for kids Dad?" Astral asked.
"Heck yeah man." Nexus replied. "How 'bout you and Mommy go see it while I go check on Raven Wing?"
"Can I come too?"
"Yeah Uncle Lunar." Gale interrupted. "I wanna see if your birdie's okay too."
"If Fluttershy'll let me I'll bring him to town with me so he can get some fresh air. That sound good?"
"Yeah!" The fouls said happily.
"Attention, we are now arriving at Ponyville Station." The engineer called back again as the train started to slow down.
"Alright. Let's hit it." Nexus said sitting up and strapping on his saddle bags.
Nexus immediately regretted getting up when the train wasn't stopped. The train came to a lurching halt and he ended up falling flat on his face. They all shared one last chuckle as Nexus picked himself up and started out.
Twilight was waiting with several of her servants to get their bags. Nexus was the first to exit the train. Astral hopped on his head and held his horn like he was on the helm of a great ship. Gale took a more practical approach and piggybacked on her mother's back. The bright sun caused Nexus to squint while his glasses started to tint themselves. Twilight levitated them off his nose examined them confused.
"You mind?" Nexus asked taking them back.
"How'd they do that?" Twilight asked trying to get them again.
"Magic. Bags are in the front y'all." Nexus told the servants. 
They bowed and made their way to the first car. Nexus and Hestaria moved out of the way and let the others out of the train. Twilight gave Celestia and Luna a hug before turning her attention to Nexus' friends.
"You must be Hestaria." She said outstretching a hoof.
"You'd be right." Hestaria said shaking Twilight's hoof. "This is my husband Ephilates." Hestaria said as Ephi walked out of the train car.
"Nice to meet you Princess." He said shaking her hoof. 
"And this little one," Twilight said leaning over to see the little filly on her back. "must be Night n, Gale." Gale shied away a little. "I'm Twilight."
"Hi Miss Twilight." Gale said quietly.
Twilight giggled and moved up next to Hestaria. "I see somepony's a little shy around strangers. I know somepony that might be able to help with that. But first, shall I show you the castle?"
"Lead the way." Firebrand said bowing to Twilight.

> Room and Board
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The whole way, Astral and Gale rattled off questions about the castle: Why it was so shiny. What it was made of. Etcetera. All Twilight could offer as an answer was she didn't quite know. That didn't stop them from asking more and more. Their parents tried to get them to stop but it only silenced them for a few moments before they started asking again. Eventually she just explained it as magic and kept using it as her excuse.
Once they reached the castle, the doors opened with their guards on the other side. Two other servants came out and helped the ones that had the bags. Twilight thanked them along with the guards as they started through the main foyer. The children looked in gawked at the high ceilings and glowing crystals that lit the halls along with the most of the ponies as the guards shut the doors. The Colonels and Princesses had been there before but the others were beyond impressed.
"Twilight!" a delicately posh voice called from the doorway to the second foyer.
A paper white unicorn with her royal purple mane and tail curled elegantly started trotting towards them. In her telekinetic grasp, she held a clip board, several paint swatches and fabric patches. She titled her red glass back onto her nose as she came to stop and gave Twilight a friendly hug.
"It's good to have you back darling." she said pulling back.
"The feeling's mutual, I see you've been busy." Twilight replied as a young stallion struggled to bring down spare rolls of carpet, curtains and paint cans on his back.
"Well when I heard there'd be more VIP's this year I couldn't let them stay in anything less than the most fabulous décor." She peered over Twilight's shoulder and noticed the Princesses and the rest of them. "And your timing is perfect. The paint's finished drying and the maids should be finished helping the crew clean up. Now would you mind introducing me to the new comers?"
"Oh! Rarity, this is Senator Lunar Nexus, his wife Dust Strom and their son Astral Wind." Nexus extended a hoof and shook with Rarity. Astral gave her a hug and Dust picked him up before shaking hoofs with her as well.
"He certainly is a friendly one is he not?" Rarity asked levitating a lollipop from her hammer space before giving it to Astral.
"And this is Ephilates, his wife Hestaria and their little daughter Night n' Gale." Ephilates and Hestaria shook Rarity's hoof and Gale did so sheepishly as Rarity pulled another lollipop.
"They're simply adorable." Rarity said with a smile.
"Now that we have that out of the way Rarity," Princess Celestia said butting in. "My sister and I would like to settle into our rooms."
"Oh of cores Princess!" Rarity said flipping her mane our of her eyes. 
The children remained on their mother's backs eagerly eating their sweets as Rarity lead towards the stairs.
"I imagine your butlers are going to have one heck of a time getting all this luggage up the stairs." Nexus said as he was about to take his own bag from them.
"Actually, we just had an elevator installed. Should make the job easier." Twilight corrected as they walked pasted the main stairs where two large sliding doors waited.
They opened automatically and everyone stepped in. The recently installed elevator was fairly large. Even with all of them in the blue marble elevator there was still plenty of room for a few more ponies if they weren't carrying luggage.
"I’ll take these up for you!" Rarity said using her horn to bring in the carts that held everyone's dress cloths on it. "I'm just dying to see what you're all going to be wearing for the Gala this year." The doors shut and Rarity opened the clothing bag to gawk over the dresses in the Princesses' bag. "Oh Princess Luna it's absolutely stunning!" she said looking at a thin, but thick enough to not show anything, dark blue and purple dress with similar white fabric around the chest.
"Thank you. It was what I wore at the Grand Galloping Gala. The year the changelings attacked us again." Luna replied not sure whether to think of it as a happy or tragic day.
"Oh… And yours Princess Celestia!" she was equally as awe struck by Celestia's dress.
Much like Luna's Celestia's was made of the same thin marital but in orange and fading down to clear near the bottom. Instead of interwoven cloths was instead one flowing piece held in form by the golden, leaf shaped, collar with her cutie mark on the front. Several small, three pearl, pearl strings hung from the collar in several places. But the focus of the dress were the two large, fire orange feathers that stuck out from the right side of the collar.
"This is amazing! Why didn't I ever think to use phoenix feathers?" Rarity gawked.
"I'm glad you like it. Philomena would be more than happy to lend a few for you to make something." Celestia replied with a smile.
"Lunarus, perhaps Raven Wing wouldn't mind my borrowing of one of his for mine?" Luna asked with a hopeful smile on her face.
Nexus sighed with a smile and agreed as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.
"Ah, follow me everypony. You will simply not believe what I have to show you today." Rarity proclaimed trotting out dragging the clothing wrack with her.
The group followed Rarity happily trotting down the hallway humming happily. She levitated clothing wrack as they s came to a short flight of stairs with two doors a fair distance apart on both sides of the hall. 
"I couldn't quite make it as you described it, but I know you'll love it." Rarity said before she happily opened the first door on the left and stepped aside for them to waltz in. 
Celestia went first, seeing as it was her usual room. The eldest of the group, Celestia, Luna and Nexus, could recognize almost instantly. Nexus for having trodden through his ancient ancestor who'd lived in Celestia and Luna's old castle. The walls were light orange along with the ceiling and the thick lush carpet being a very light gray with a king sized, four posted bed with the dark red silk cretins tied back. On the ceiling was a painting of Celestia's cutie mark that stretched most of the room. Opposite the door, a set of double doors lead to the balcony facing east.
"I couldn't get you the domed ceiling you had when you were back in the Everfree Castle, but I was able to make a copy of the tapestry that was hanging in your old room." Rarity said proudly waving a hoof over the large square piece of cloth depicting a red mined alicorn with a white coat laying next to two little fillies; one being as white as she was with a pink mane and the other, dark blue with a light blue mane.
"It's fine Rarity. Thank you." Celestia said genuinely.
"Not a trouble at all Princess." Rarity said bowing to her. Celestia bowed back and Rarity was upright in a millisecond with a look that could only be described as exactly what she was about to say. "You are going to love what I'd done with your room Princess Luna! I guarantee it!"
"I am sure I will." Luna replied with a light giggle.
Luna's was just as Nexus expected it. The walls were painted midnight blue and the floor is carpeted in in thick, light blue carpet. The ceiling was painted with a starry sky with ribbons of auroras tied both ends of the room and changed color every few minutes. Near the door, a vanity mirror stood next to a medium sized closet. A window that reached half way up the wall overlooked Ponyville on the opposite side of the wall and two bookshelves carved into the walls were on either side of the window.
In the center, a large circular bed, much like the one back in Canterlot and Everfree, with a circular rail holding up black silk curtains over the plush mattress. Luna spun around in awe before noticing the same tapestry that was in her sister's room hanging next to her door.
"I hope you don't mind Princess. I thought you'd like one as well." Rarity said earnestly.
"I appreciate this gesture Rarity. I thank you." She said bowing in respect. "Would it be okay if I took this back to Canterlot with us?"
"Of cores Princess! I wouldn't mind at all."
"Thank you. But uh, should you not give Tia her dress?" Luna said pointing to the still full clothing cart behind her.
Rarity blushed lightly and chuckled before excusing herself to take Celestia's dress back to her.
"I'll show you guys to your rooms while she's fixing this little issue. She's got a tendency to be a tad overly dramatic." Twilight said as the parents, with their little ones on the mare's backs left the room and started down the hall with Twilight leading this time.
After the Princesses' rooms, the rise in the hall dropped back down and the rooms were once again back in equal increments. Her horn glowed a light purple and the two doors on the left, and one on the right, nearest to the Princesses' opened up.
"Senator, this is your room," She said pointing to the closest room. "and Captains, that is your room there." She said pointing to the one furthest. "They're not as luxurious as the Princesses' but they're still very nice."
Nexus and Dust walked into their room and were astonished by what they were seeing. A large sitting area with a small, black marble fireplace set in front of a large sofa that matched the thick red carpet. Astral hopped off his mother's back and ran to the door opposite the fireplace as they walked in. The balcony doors, rather than clear glass, were light blue misted glass letting in enough light to keep the room lit in the day allowing the fireplace to keep the room lit at night if it was needed.
"Wow!" Astral called form the room he ran into.
Nexus and Dust followed the quick to follow sound of bedsprings screeching over and over again. The bedroom was around as wide as the sitting room but not nearly as long. The king sized bed was post-less but the light blue sheets matched the coloring on the walls. The carpet had changed as well; from velvet red to cobalt blue. On the bed, Astral jumped up and down as though it was a trampoline.
Nexus lit his horn and levitated his little colt from the bed as he rose up. "This isn't your room son. You're sleeping on the couch unfortunately."
"Aw…." Astral replied as Nexus set him down.
"Actually!" Rarity sang as she trotted in. "Twilight took the liberty of giving a room for the children to share on their own."
"Really!?" Both Astral and Gale shouted happily, Gale and her parents walking in behind Nexus.
"That's right everypony. Come on." Twilight said leading the kids out the room.
Astral and Gale followed closely behind while the parents kept up. The kids' room was right across from their creators' and looked identical, besides the balcony. The bedroom was similar to the others but had two queen sized beds rather than one King. The one on the right had  a basket of candy near the head of the bed. The left was similar but instead had a few limited edition comic books, action figures and a similar amount of candy.
The children's eyes lit up as they pounced on their gift baskets. Gale started rummaging through the basket getting a good look at all the dolls while Astral gawked at the comics he'd be reading for the next two weeks.
"I thought you two would like it." Twilight giggled with joy seeing the result of her little presents.
"Don't eat all that at once now." Nexus told Astral before he could even open the first sweet treat. 
"That goes for you too Gale." Hestaria told her daughter who was too distracted by her new toys.
Everyone jumped when they heard Rarity let out a powerful gasp of disgust. "What in the name of Celestia is this!?"
Everyone turned around and found her staring at an open bag on the clothing wrack, now missing two bags. "What is it?" Twilight asked.
"Mr. Nexus, this cannot be what you're wearing to the Gala this week!" Rarity said showing Nexus the bag with his dress uniform in it.
"It is. What's wrong with it?"
"It's just so… stiff and uninteresting."
"So's Nexus." Ephialtes joked.
"Somepony with your position shouldn't be caught dead wearing something so drab and same-y."
"It's a uniform. It's what it's supposed to be."
"Well I simply will not allow you accompany somepony with such a dazzling dress," Showing Nexus Dust's favorite, black sequence dress. "in something this… boring. You, Lunarus Nexus, need to wear something interesting. Somepony as interesting as yourself should want to stand out."
"Lunar doesn't like being the center of attention." Dust in formed.
"Why would anypony want to go unnoticed at one of of the biggest celebrations of the year?! Everypony's eyes watching you make your grand entrance," She said starting to get carried away. "Their eyes absolutely entranced by the very movement of your hoofs." She stopped before she burst into an aria and looked to everyone staring at her. "He he… Sorry."
"Twilight said you could be a tad overzealous." Hestaria added.
"Well… Ah-hem. I would love to make you a suit for the Gala if you wouldn't mind."
"Please do." Dust said. "I'm tired of that old thing."
"Hey." Nexus said a tad insulted. "I don't need a new suit."
"Oh come now darling. Everyone needs to get a new look once in a while."
The children took the opportunity of the distraction to start eating their candy. "Just let her make a suit for you Lunar."
"If you ask me you'd look rather fetching in a tuxedo." Rarity said looking him over, trying to picture all the kinds of suits he could be put in.
"Um… Thanks?" Nexus replied confused.
"Oh no no no no!" Nexus now looked a tad more insulted. "I mean you would look fetching but I wouldn't dream of trying to… Eh he he he… I'm going to shut up now."
"Good idea." Dust said putting her left foreleg round Nexus' left. 
"Of coerce. So I'll have you at the Caracal Boutique around say three?"
Dust nudged him Nexus slightly and he let out a sigh of annoyance. I'll be there. But I need to go see Fluttershy first."
"Is that your phoenix she's caring for?" Rarity asked.
"It is. Uh, you mind pointing the way for me? Dust's going to take the kids to see the children's corner of the town."
"Twilight will have to sadly. I've got a few more things that need my immediate attention here in the castle. But when you're done at the children's corner, Pinkie Pie will point you in my direction for a fitting."
"I'll be sure to remember for him." Dust said.
"Right! I'll be off. Have it was wonderful to meet all of you. Especially you two." she said pointing to the foals now having to hide that they were eating the candy; very poorly mind.
"Okay everypony," Twilight said tapping her hoof. "We've got a lot to see and Pinkie Pie's going to be thrilled to meet you two."
Rarity was the first out to take the dress cloths to their respective rooms after dropping off the children's on their beds and Twilight lead the rest to them back to the elevator to start the tour of the town.

> Fluttershy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Once they'd gotten down to the foyer and out the door, Twilight gave very easy directions for Nexus to follow.
"Just take the main road south until you get to the market. Take a the road to the left that goes over a bridge and follow that road to the edge of the Everfree Forest. That's where her cottage is. Just be careful. She's a little shy."
It was still fresh in his mind as he made his way nearer to the forest. Through the dense foliage, Nexus could vaguely make out the outline of a few small buildings, possibly chicken coops, just past the tree line. As he passed through, he was in instant view of a clearing that had a quaint little grass roofed cottage surrounded by the Everfree Forest. He was right before, just after the clearing, and a small bridge over a creek, he could see the chicken coop he saw on his way over. 
Nexus trotted quickly up the hill to the door and knocked. The knock was followed by a sudden high pitched 'eep!' "Um, hello?" Nexus called. "It's Colonel Nexus… Raven Wing's owner?"
The top half of the door crept open slightly with a bright blue eye on the other side looking back. "You're Nexus?" a shy timid voice asked very softly. She sounded strangely familiar.
"Um, yes. I'm here to check on my nightmare phoenix, Raven Wing. He's got a broken wing."
The top portion of the door shut and the whole thing opened. Nexus stepped back and took a moment to try and put the voice and face to a name as the bright yellow pegasus with a long, flowing, pink mane that nearly reached to the ground was revealed. She didn't look Nexus in the eyes until she'd noticed what he had instead of legs.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" Nexus asked.
"Oh…" she said still not raising her voice any higher than a whisper. "Um, you do. It was a long time ago but I wouldn't expect you to remember me."
"I think I remember meeting you but I'm certain that if it was pleasant or not I didn't get your name. You're Fluttershy?"
"Y-Yes."
"Well. It's nice to-" as Nexus reached out his hoof to shake Fluttershy's but she suddenly slammed the door. "Uh… Fluttershy? I'm sorry, I didn't know you… didn't like people in your bubble. May I come in?"
The door creaked open again and she peered out. "I'm sorry, but I'm not comfortable with you coming in. Unless you really want to…" she said still not getting above a whisper.
"Well, I don't want to intrude but can we talk about Raven Wing please?"
Fluttershy looked him in the eye for close to the first time with a little bit of joy. "Of course. He's a sweet heart." she sounded much more comfortable as she stepped out a tad. "He really loves being around ponies. That's rare for a phoenix. But he's been very cooperative."
"How much longer do you think it'll be before he can fly again?"
"I wouldn't try and have him fly for another two weeks. But he can come back with you by the end of the week if that's okay with you."
"That's just fine Fluttershy. Would it be fine if I just brought him with me on a walk of town. I think he'd benefit from some fresh air."
"Oh certainly! I'll bring him over."
She walked back inside and Nexus had to withhold the instinct to follow. Fluttershy rounded the corner and vanished into the next room. He waited patiently for a moment before she came back round with him sitting on her right wing. The second the black and purple bird saw his master, he tried to spread his wings but stopped thanks to the bandages around his left wing. Fluttershy settled him down as they approached the door.
"Here you are Raven sweetie." Fluttershy said leaning her wing over towards Nexus.
The tall bird rocked in anticipation as Nexus extended his left mechanized wing and let his pet hop on to him. Raven Wing cooed happily and nuzzled Nexus' cheek heavily.
"Alright bud!" Nexus said nuzzling him back for a moment before pushing him back. "I missed you too. I'll have him back before tonight. Is that okay with you?"
"Oh, it's fine. You can bring him back around whenever you want. Oh wait… I'll be getting my mane done at the spa before the first night of the Gala. I-"
"I'll just have him stay in my room for the night and have him back to you tomorrow. Is that fine?"
"Oh, that's okay, I guess." She was starting to reseed back to timid again.
"Alright then. Thank you Fluttershy. I'll see you tonight then?"
"Um…"
"If it's fine with you. Have a good day." Nexus said with a smile before leaving.
As he drew his wing closer to himself, he noticed he seemed a tad fatter than before. "She spoils you more than I do fatty." He said as he crossed the bridge.
Raven Wing squawked at him a tad annoyed but nuzzled him again, happy to be back with his father.

> Close Encounters of the Pink Kind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The walk would have gone much faster if Raven Wing hadn't hopped off his master's wing to try and chase down a field mouse. Nexus assumed it was because he'd come by just before feeding time. He never liked using magic on Raven Wing so his mischievous pet did everything in his power to not be apprehended by Nexus.
But after a good few minutes of chasing, Raven gave in and allowed his master to catch him and take him where he was going. The phoenix hopped back and forth between Nexus' wings anxiously hoping he could somehow take flight. Nexus came back to town to see the residence putting up streamers, paper lamps of varying colors, and even just colored lights. Most of the usual stands of food and such were starting to shut down while the buildings that housed shops were starting to make modifications for their own events.
Nexus himself had passed a record shop that was preparing the place for a rave. The white unicorn he assumed owned the shop was constantly bobbing her head to an inaudible beat. He was tempted to ask her where the children's corner was but he wasn't sure if she was quite right in the head. He continued to the north side of town towards where he roughly remembered the old library to be. He knew it wasn't there anymore, thanks to the legendary centaur mage, Tirek but he'd never gone by to see what was even left.
Probably nothing left but it was worth a look. There had to at least be some kind of memorial right? As he approached where the large hollowed out oak tree once stood and found almost nothing left. one branch stood in defiance of the attack along with the doorway. The bark outside was singed black from the fires. Nexus let out a sigh of sadness looking upon the ruins. He'd never had the pleasure of actually having been inside the library, all he did was make a contribution of his own knowledge to her vast collection that was now gone.
It was also where his time as a wanderer began nearly ten years ago. Upon reflection, he'd wished he'd not thought about those years. Two months a wandering, angry soldier with nothing more but the voice in his head telling him to give up and let the power it held come in. Just angrily slaughtering any hostile creature that crossed his path and contemplating the same for everypony. 
Nexus shuddered and continued walking. In the distance, massive explosions of confetti shot over the roofs. He gathered he could get a good bearing on the direction of the kid section of town; but it was just a thought. Knowing his delay, he picked up the pace and began trotting. Raven Wing didn't quite like the bouncing of his trotting so instead of riding on his wing, he leapt onto Nexus' back and leant forward to keep his balance. As he approached, he saw the bright pink mane of his God Daughter coming in and out of sight.
As he approached, he saw that the whole roof of a building open and both Astral and Gale were being launched out of it. As Nexus redirected his gaze, he noticed the light signal that was Ephilates' red and black coat. Ephialtes turned, sensing Nexus' presence, and Dust and Hestaria followed his gaze. Dust smiled and met him half way. She gave him a quick hug before doing what she did best, gently pushing his buttons.
"Guess Twilight's directions weren't that hard to follow." Dust said sarcastically before quickly looking back to their children flying up out of the building again.
He hated when she was sarcastic with him. "What the heck is going on here anyways?" Nexus asked as Raven Wing hopped onto Dust's back.
"Pinkie Pie opened the roof and replaced the floor with a bouncy castle. Astral and Gale are loving it."
"Speaking of, where is P-"
Before Nexus could finish the name, a bubble gum pink earth pony mare appeared behind him from what seemed like thin air. Her mane and tail looked a lot like cotton candy would have surely had its fair share of children trying to take a nibble on. With her, a bright blue cannon. She pulled string in the back and fired it point blank at Nexus. Instead of blasting him to little tiny bits, a blast of confetti shot from the cannon to the sound of a party horn.
Nexus jumped in surprise and nearly knocked Dust off her hoofs. "Right here!" she said with a massive smile on her muzzle.
"So you are…. How'd you-?"
"How'd I what? Make Sugar Cube Corner into a bouncy castle?" From literal nowhere, she pulled a light blue hard hat with a flashing red light on top of it along with a white board with a rudimentary drawing of the building, still with its roof, and a bounce castle drawn in red marker. The roof had an up arrow pointing away and the bounce castle had its own arrow, this one pointing to the roof that Nexus assumed would be where ever another arrow told it to.
"I was more concerned on how you snuck up behind me. No pony can physically sneak up behind me."
"Well I did."
"But- but- but- How!?"
"Don't worry." Ephialtes said rolling his eyes as though he'd gone through the same conversation. "It's Pinkie Pie, don't question it."
Nexus looked back to where Pinkie and her white board were but they weren't there at all. "Ooo!" She said from behind Dust. "I've never seen a blue phoenix before! What's it eat?"
He swung his head around to answer. "Well nothin' too-"
"What's up with your legs?" she asked from behind him while pulling his right hind leg before gasping heavily. "Are you from the future!?" He tried to get a word in, while forgetting to ask how she got behind him while he was looking at her, but to no avail. "What do I get for my next birthday!?" He opened his mouth to answer but she was quicker on the draw. "Wait don't tell me! What abo-"
Nexus had had enough of this. He shoved his hoof in her mouth and stopped the rapid flow of her nonsensical babbling. "It's a long story I'd like to not go into right now. So I'd like you to not ask about it and slow - down! Now I'm gonna take my hoof off your mouth, and you're not going to get that close to me again, please." Pinkie nodded and Nexus took his hoof off her muzzle. "So this is safe then?"
"Of course Silly Billy! Twilight wouldn't've let me do it otherwise! And you should see what I'm doing with the park!"
"I think I can handle the anticipation. Now uh… How do we get our kids down from there?"

> Castle of Everfree
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It was about seven in the evening when festivities kicked off officially. All the lights went up as the sun went down and the all kinds of music filtered through the whole town. Nexus of course wore his uniform. Medals, ribbons and all. He liked the dress uniform for a reason that he wasn't sure Dust really picked up on. He may not like getting attention because of it, no he loathed it. But he felt proud to wear it. It's something he'd worked for his whole life and he wasn't about to stop wearing it, come rain, sleet, snow or new suit, he'd wear it. He'd say it was like getting Dust to get a new favorite dress but he was hoping he'd eat those words he didn't say.
Everypony dropped off their kids with Pinkie Pie, who looked like a walking barber shop sign, and started across the main square where a jazz band was set up. He knew where it was going. Ephialtes was dragged over to the business district of market street to be lavished in electronic music. He wasn't sure why Ephi liked that music or his wife for that matter but he wasn't going to argue with him, not while Hestaria kept her knife on her left thigh…. He'll never understand how he figured that out to begin with.
The music wasn't too bad, Nexus kind of liked jazz. Somehow Dust talked him into going where Ephi went and his head was still angry at him for subjecting him to the pounding bass. After another couple of hours at dinner near the Caracole Boutique, and slipping Rarity Dust's dress size, they headed to the north of the town where, so he'd heard, was a much easier side of town. A place called Sweet Apple Acres had some kind of cider tasting and country music. Country music was more his speed and he could use a little cider. Nothing hard, he wasn't really in the mood.
While the adults went on their way to enjoy themselves, their children didn't need to go anywhere for enjoyment. Candy, rides, bouncy things where you wouldn't expect them, all of that was in the small section of town they were in. Not too far away from anything sweet or fun! At least for the first two and a half hours. Astral was first to get bored of it. He liked the rides but it wasn't anything he hadn't done before, or better in Baltimare. Gale, less than a year younger, got bored after their eighth time on the super jungle gym  that was the tip of iceberg.
It wasn't that they didn't enjoy it, it was one of the only things Astral hadn't seen anywhere else. Three whole stories of slides, monkey bars, and poles. It was an incredible, but due to their extreme curiosity, they'd always find every way to make it old quickly. They sat on a bench swinging their hoofs on the edge.
"What'd you wanna do now?" Gale asked the pegasus.
"What is there left to do? We've seen everything!" Astral said throwing his hoofs up into the air and falling back onto the seat.
Gale twirled at the end of her ponytail not sure what to say. They had done everything.
"Not yet!" their pink host was quick to remind them, popping out of nowhere again. "You two haven't seen the castle yet!"
"We're staying in the castle Ms. Pie." Astral said fidgeting with his clip-on tie.
"Not that castle silly! I mean the Everfree Castle!"
"You mean the one from Mare in the Moon?" Gale asked sitting up.
"Yup! I know somepony who'll tell you everything about it. Go to the statue if you wanna go!"
"When's that?" Astral asked sitting up.
"Right now! You'd better hurry, Zecora's going to be leaving soon!"
Astral and Gale looked at one another and before they could ask who Zecora was when they realized she was already hopping away to do… whatever she did exactly, the kids weren't too sure. But they were sure that something new would be better than sitting there and being board. The two leapt from the bench and Gale flew behind her friend just to show off that she's gotten better than he has.
"What statue was Ms. Pie talking about?" Gale asked.
"Duh! What other statues are there around? It was outside the Hall of Upside Down Mirrors."
"What made them upside down anyways?" Gale asked.
"I don't know. They just were, now come on!"
Astral flew up behind her and began shoving her in the direction of the Hall of Mirrors. She might have been better keeping aloft than Astral but she was nowhere near as fast yet. He got her moving at what could've been considered a heavy jog for most ponies towards the east side of town. As they closed in on it, they saw a gathering of foals in their best dress surrounding a strange looking pony. She was covered in black and white stripes across her whole body. She was like a white version of Gale's father just without a horn.
Her thick mane reached own to her chest, though everything from the top of her head down didn't match so they thought she was wearing a wig. She wore a plain, navy blue dress  with a white zigzag pattern decorating the edge of her skirt. She stood at the base of Princess Celestia's statue and was in the middle of a speech of some kind.
"What you will see tonight, will give all of you quite a fright." she spoke in rhyming rhythm. "The Castle Everfree, is a place most fear to be. The time of Luna's night, make for an eerie sight. The monsters within its hall can devour you all!"
Most of the kids around them exchanged unsettling looks whereas Astral and Gale smiled. Finally, something exciting!
"Those among you brave enough to wander the dark passage, follow me to the carriage." she motioned to a hay filled cart large enough to hold most of them.
A big red stallion sat in the harness and three younger mares sat in the back. They weren't nearly as young as they were but were certainly big kids with very similar cutie marks. The orange and purple pegasus had a striped shield with a purple lightning bolt/wing in the center. She sat opposite the white and pink unicorn with a pink song note in a purple star on her cutie mark's shield on the back of the cart waiting to help the children up while a yellowish earth pony with a purple apple on hers was holding the reins.
"I don't know if I wanna go anymore…" A little girl said taking a half step back.
"Your loss!" Astral said flying over the kids with Gale close behind.
The pegasus flew up and grabbed Astral as he started doing a few circles of the cart in excitement and the unicorn caught Gale with her magic to sit her down next to her.
"Slow down there kid." the pegasus said lowering him down onto the hay bale next to her.
They start helping the other kids that couldn't fly into the cart and explaining to stay in the cart the whole ride. Astral moved across the cart as it filled up and looked over the seat of the hay cart. He saw the entrance to the Everfree Forest. The entrance was lit by a glowing veil of pale green light in an arch over the path. Gale was quick to come up next to him and look as the two mares at the back shut the doors. The pony they assumed was Zecora got up on the front of the carriage, blocking the kids view.
"Alright everypony." the earth pony said turning around. "Keep in the car on the way there. The Everfree Forest ain't a place for young'uns."
"Yes Ms. Applebloom." the children said in unison. They must've been introduced before they got there. 
"Nice to have ponies that listen for once." the unicorn said leaning back on the side.
The stallion started forward, bringing the cart with them. The cart bounced lightly on the dirt road as they went. The mares talked about all the creatures they'd seen in the Everfree Forest and even outside of it. Astral and Gale didn't really pay any attention. The two of them just kept looking up at the field around the path. It shone brilliantly and twinkled. The unicorn, Sweetie Belle, said it was to make sure that no creatures got in the way. It didn't matter to them though, it was pretty.
When the field passed behind them and the Astral and Gale were back at the front to see the Everfree Castle. It wasn't as impressive as Twilight's Castle but it was an eerie stone monolith against the forest and sky. Ahead a large, misty chasm stood between them and their night of fright. The cart slowed down slightly as they came to the rope bridge. Looking off to the right, the skeleton of a much safer stone bridge was in the works. The bridge sagged at the weight but held strong as they crossed the chasm.
Astral's father had told him about the Everfree Castle. It'd been broken when Princess Celestia and Auntie Luna fought a long time ago. Even when it was in shambles it was still a sight to behold. And from what he'd heard from the storybook Auntie Luna was reading to him yesterday, it was haunted by something terrifying! He couldn't've been more excited. He'd spent a lot of the train ride down, when she wasn't trying to bite his ear off, telling her about the Pony of Shadows. Gale was just as excited to see him as much as he was.
The earth pony stopped the puller, whom Astral noticed had half a green apple for a cutie mark, and the two mares on the back jumped out to help the foals. Zecora jumped down from the driver seat and began talking in rhyme again. Astral and Gale didn't pay any real attention. She said something about staying close together and keeping an eye out for anything unusual. Astral and Gale bounced in anticipation as they started to cross the bridge to the big castle.



Bored would be the optimal word Astral would've used for the "Haunted Castle". Most of what went on was smoke and mirrors. Couldn't really figure out why he knew it was, but he knew for a fact it was. He and Gale were the only two to flip out at all. They jumped at a few things but there wasn't much that really scared them. They, like most kids at ten o'clock, were exhausted. Their parents happily carried them to the castle as they started sleeping on their backs. The adults put their children to bed and silently shut the door behind them. After parting ways, the Nexus family decided to let out some baggage from the evening.
"Okay, what is your problem!?" Dust asked annoyed.
"I'm sorry! I happen like country music!" Nexus said back.
"It's not that you moron. I'm talking about you getting all flirty!"
"Okay, first off; when was talking to somepony flirting? And Second, when were you the jealous type!?"
"When were you into posh ponies?"
"What, Rarity? She wanted to know what I thought of the suit design."
"And that meant going to talk 'alone'?"
"You could see us. Nothing went down. I looked at the design and told her what I wanted."
"And all that giggling she was doing?"
"I know nothing of fashion. I don't know what any of what she was talking about and when I was trying to repeat what she said."
"Whatever…" She said getting out of her dress and tossing it aside. "I'm going to bed."
Nexus groaned and went to the bathroom. He shook his mane messy again and started to make his way out of his suit. He looked back at Dust making her way into bed and sighed. He hated lying to her. Though he wasn't cheating, he was lying to her about what he was doing. When he said he wanted the dress to be a secret, he meant it. Even still, this was a bit over the top for her. She knew he had no skills in the art of flirting and that he was secretly an idiot about anything that wasn't politics and computers.
Nexus hung his suit up and tossed his now dirty shirt into what would soon be a pile. Now more comfortable, he flicks off the lights and moves into the bedroom where Dust had made claim to the right side of the bed, where Nexus preferred to be. He let out a silent sigh and climbed into bed behind his wife. She didn't acknowledge his presence. Nexus, knowing it was a bad idea to go to bed angry, scooted closer to his wife and put his right foreleg around her midsection. Ever since they became living metal, making them as warm as a real foreleg, she became much more tolerant of his cuddling her.
She shrugged him off with a grunt and shoved him back a few inches. "Lunar, I'm not in the mood."
"I just wanna hold my wife." He replied calmly. He may not have been good with flirting, he was certainly good at getting her to forgive him.
"Well maybe I'm not in the mood for that either Lunar. Now go to bed." she said wrapping the sheets around her. That didn't quite stop Nexus however. He tried one more time and wrapped his foreleg around her over the sheets. And again she shrugged him off. "Lunar, I said no!" She said turning around. "I don't feel like being held tonight. Just go to bed!" she violently rolled over and flung open her wings.
Nexus was sure now he couldn't get around this tonight. He might get lucky tomorrow night but he knew he wasn't getting anywhere with her as mad as she was right now. Nexus rolled over onto his back and put his right hoof behind his pillow. He looked back to his wife one more time before settling in for the night.
> Morning After
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

            It was just after dawn when a series of rapid knocks came at Luna's door. The Princess glanced at the mirror off to her right as she rose from her bed at the center of the room. Her mane was in a mess, not quite tangled but certainly not regal. The knocks continued and Luna called for the one knocking to give her a moment. From the vanity table, she levitated a bright red hair tie. Though not her favorite color, she thought clashed well with her much darker colors. She pulled the majority of her midnight purple mane back and quickly tied it back in a pony tail.
Satisfied that she looked somewhat presentable, she trotted over to the door and pulled the handle. The second the door opened she was attacked by two little foals, viciously flying up and hugging her around the neck and pelting her with affection.
"Hello little ones!" Luna said being knocked back on her haunches from the onslaught.
"Good Morning Princess!" Gale said with glee as the Princess nuzzled both her and Astral.
"Good morning to you as well. Could you not wait for your parents to wake you up?"
"We wanted to have breakfast with you Auntie." Astral told her as she let them down. She noticed Astral was still holding a plush toy of herself. She was honestly taken back that he still had it. "I bet Dad wouldn't care."
"I'm sure he would. But in this case it is better to seek forgiveness than to ask permission."
"What's that mean?" Gale asked.
"Worry not about it." Luna took notice that Gale was still in her pajamas. "Go get ready for breakfast you two. I will alert your parents of our plans."
"Okay Princess!" they say together before running across the hall to their room.
Princess Luna made sure they got into their room before finding a quill and ink to pen a message. Even with Rarity's keen insight on things needed in a design, a few things were skipped out on. She had a quill and ink on her vanity, but paper of any kind was lacking. That is except for a couple of napkins that were with her midnight snack of jam doughnuts and wine. One glass, just to unwind a tad after the festivities. She took two napkins and put down a quick note to both sets of parents. Half way done with the note, she figured that perhaps it'd be wise to allow them some time to unwind today as well.
She quickly added that she'd look after the children until the afternoon for them, letting them have a day to indulge themselves. As she moved past their doors, she slipped the notes under the doors but left the, untouched. She knew better than to wake ponies on vacation; it was just a matter of respect. Across from the Nexus' door, the children's flew open as Gale tried shoving her way past Astral, still giggling at something said or done in the room.
"Come now young ones. Breakfast will be served any minute." Princess Luna said motioning the children to follow her.
"Last one down's a rotten phoenix egg!" Astral exclaimed, getting a head start, only to trip at the raised section where Luna and her sister's rooms were.
Gale caught up before he could get on his hoofs and passed him with her tongue out. Astral called her a cheater before finally gaining his footing and trying to catch up. Princess Luna began a quick trot to try keep up with the foals. This was going to be along day.



"Well that was nice of her." Dust said brushing out her bed head.
"Yeah it was." Nexus agreed stepping out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. "Though I'm concerned."
"What about? Luna's watched Astral and Gale before.
"Never at the same time though. Astral's a hand full and so's Gale from what Ephi's told me."
"Well I'm sure she can handle them for one day. After all, it gives us a chance to try out the spa."
"Dust I told you, I don't do spas. There isn't much I can do there without something in my legs going haywire."
"Why not? Maybe they could file down your horn?"
"And why does that matter at all? They don't grow like claws. They get longer with age but eventually just stop."
"Well I've heard that it feels nice. It's kind of like a massage. OOO! You could do that too!"
"I don't like ponies touching me Dust, you know that."
"You hug Princess Luna all the time Lunar. And Astral wouldn't exist if that was true."
"There are few ponies I can deal with in my personal space Dust."
"Just try it Lunar."
"What's the problem with it anyways Colonel?" Hestaria said walk in the open front door. "Not like they're going to try and give you a happy ending."
"If they did he wouldn't have to tell them to stop." Ephialtes said following his wife. "Dust would take his pistols and shoot them herself."
"I'd honestly let her." Nexus replied. "I just don't like ponies in my space is all. Y'all are really the only exceptions to that."
"Y'all? I think this town's rubbin' off on ya." Ephialtes joked.
"My mom's from here you prick. She kind of passed down the mannerisms I feel."
"Southern hospitality she calls it." Dust commented.
"Redneck mentality's what Dad called it." Nexus added with a chuckle.
Everypony else chuckled with him. "So what are you going to do with the day?" Dust asked her Husband. "Cause we're going to the spa."
"And I'm dragging Ephi along." Hestaria said.
"If you're my friend then you'll save me from this." Ephi said.
"Sorry man. You're on your own. I've got a few things I need to do anyways."
"Like?" Dust asked.
"Checking on Raven Wing for one. Maybe see if I can find Aunt June."
"You sure you want to see her?" Dust asked putting down the hair brush. "She wasn't exactly happy with you the last time you saw her."
"After the whole… Accident with your cosine…" Hestaria started with hesitation.
"It's alright Stari. I came to terms with that a long time ago." Nexus said letting out a sigh. "It's been five years and all. She may not have forgiven me but maybe she'll talk to me instead of shout."
"Well, good luck then Colonel." the bat pony said offering a slight smile.
"I'm sure I'll need it." Feeling confident he was tucked away, Nexus removed the towel around his waist and threw on his Evening Guard Ball Cap. "I'll be off then. See y'all for lunch?"
"Yup." Dust said giving her husband a quick peck on the lips. "See you soon Honey."
Nexus smiled and made his way out the door. As he walked, he felt a small pit in his stomach from what he'd just said. Yes his Aunt June lived in Ponyville, yes he was ready to try and talk to her, but she wasn't in town this week. Real estate was her business and she was going to Canterlot to finish the papers for a house in Ponyville. His mother was letting her stay with her while she was in town.
He was hoping Dust didn't realize she was the one that told him about it. Though after yesterday he was certainly hopeful that she wouldn't. He took the elevator down to the foyer and was quick to find Rarity. She was talking to a few ponies in orange jackets about something that he only caught the jist of.
"-and be sure to keep it out of the flower beds this time!" she scolded before waving them off. She turned and greeted Nexus with what he was now assuming her ignore-what-I-was-just doing-I'm-happy-as-can-be! Smile. "Good Morning Senator. Is everything alright? After the tiff Twilight told me about I was worried."
"I'm honestly not sure. She's happier this morning and seems to not care or remember the whole thing."
"Well perhaps you should be thankful. So speaking of Dust," The two of them began walking out of the main castle gates and into the early morning sun. "I've run out of sapphires but I'm almost done with the chest."
Finally some good news. "So when do you think you'll have it done by?"
"Somewhere between Thursday and Friday, and that's rushing it Dear."
"No need to rush through it. True quality can't be rushed."
"Well then… I'm glad to hear it. Oh, and before I forget." Nexus heard her horn light up and saw her levitating a magazine off of a stand they were passing. He didn't get much chance to read the title but he saw a large diamond on the cover. "I was glancing through this to find something interesting and I found this." She flipped through the pages and stopped on a model in an antique style dress and some jewelry. "What'd you think?"
"I don't think it's really Dust's style." Nexus said confused.
"No, I mean that!" she eagerly pointed  to one of the pieces of jewelry on the model.
Nexus, now knowing what he was looking for, let out a low whistle as he sized up the accessory. "Those are some big rocks." Nexus said impressed. "I'm guessing it won't be cheap?"
"Absolutely not. It is up to you if you wish to get one for her."
Nexus sighed, with the hell he caught last night it wouldn't hurt his chances of getting out of the dog house. And he wasn't exactly short on bits. "Yeah. I think she'd love it."
"Good, because I already ordered two!"
"Two? Really?"
"What? It's a fabulous piece and I'd be insane not to get one for myself!"
"I guess I get it." A thought suddenly crosses Nexus' mind while looking at the gems. "Actually, think I could make a modification?"
"What kind of modifications?" Rarity asked tilting her head as the idea started taking shape in Nexus' mind.



Across town, the Moon Princess was at play with two foals in a park outside the town itself but far from the limits. The park was connected to a one room school house, out in the current season. Princess Luna ran from Astral Wind in a game of tag while Night n' Gale hung from the monkey bars to avoid being tagged as the Princess ran under her. Gale dropped down and ran in the other direction and Luna came to a stop. Astral tagged her giggling and ran away as she tried to catch her breath.
The colt looked back and saw his 'Aunt' laying on her belly panting. He cautiously moved over to make sure he didn't get tagged while still concerned for the Princess.
"Auntie Luna?" he said.
Princess Luna took a breath and steadied her pounding heart. "I'm…. I'm fine. The two of you are hard to keep up with. I am over a thousand years old after all."
"Do you wanna keep playing Princess Woona?" Gale asked.
"I… *sigh* I will be ready in a few minutes. Why don't you two tell me what you did last night. Did Ms. Pie give you a good time?"
"Yeah she did!" Gale said happily. "We went on the bouncy house, the upside down mirror house and even your castle!"
"It was not just my old castle. Tia lived there with me too."
"Yeah, it wasn't very scary though." Astral added.
"Scary? Why would it be scary?" the Princess asked her 'nephew'
"It's what Zecora was doing."
"Oh, I had forgotten about that. It was never meant to be scary. Our castle was made by The Great Mother as a place for us to play and live. When she left the physical world it became more. But there is much you have not seen on that tour."
"Can you show us Auntie Luna!?" Astral said putting his hoofs on Luna to try and get face to face with her.
"Yeah will you!?" Gale exclaimed getting on her other side.
Well it couldn't hurt could it? "Okay. But if you would please give me some more time to catch my breath before I fly you there?"
"Okay Princess." Gale said giving her a hug.
"Yes Auntie." Astral replied slightly disappointed.
"Well let's not stop here. What else did you do last night with Ms. Pie?"
> More Than It Seems
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

            The two children went on about all they'd done for about an hour, more than long enough for Princess Luna to catch her breath. Once she'd gotten them to stop talking about the hall of upside down mirrors and how it made no sense, she stood up and stretched her wings. She instructed the children to not stray from her and stick close. Gale could barely keep up as young as she was. Luna slowed up and allowed her to ride on her back while Astral stubbornly few on. Though a gifted flyer for his age, he wasn't accustomed to flying as far as they were. He gave up just before they made it but refused to ride on Luna's back.
Astral walked in behind Luna while Gale rode through the castle gates. Astral panted slightly as they walked. The castle was just as beautiful as it was at night. The path the children taken the night before was easy to see, decorated with fake cobwebs and spiders. It lead to the twin doors sat on at the end of the main foyer and up a set of stairs. Those lead to the throne room, the one place Luna and her sister had told Zecora to avoid decorating. It led to far too many places in the castle. If a child decided to wander they could easily get lost and remain so for a full day if unlucky enough. Luna's horn lit up and the doors opened with no difficulty at all. They swung open and the sight of the throne room, almost exactly as she'd left it a thousand years ago, appeared.
The window behind a balcony bridge let in light from the central garden casting an egg shaped mirror image of the mosaic on the red carpet. Astral pointed out the paths they took across the balcony opposite the thrones. Luna assured them they'd avoid taking the boring path and stick to her favorite places in the castle. After all, she lived here as a filly with her sister, it's the nature of children to find every small thing to make something out of. And Luna was not about to disappoint her two favorite foals in the world.



This was the best castle tour ever! Astral found a few little things in Canterlot that were cool but nothing like this place! A hallway that lead to FOUR slides and two trampolines. Passage upon secret passage that could send them anywhere in the castle, sometimes at random, a pipe organ that could make anything happen anywhere in the Castle and Gale's personal favorite, the spinning trap door that lead them to the old guard quarters. They had their own private reserve of mango trees under a greenhouse field for some reason.
Luna did have to break her promise of not following the path after that. Luna took them to the library for a sit down. She brought them towards the garden side of the library and pulled on a chair at the head of a long oak table. A section of the book cases near the middle of the table slid back to what Luna called her Quiet Room.
"It was once a panic room if case the castle came under attack." Luna began. "But Tia and I decided to make it a bit more comfortable. Eventually we used it to hide from Mother when we did something wrong as fillies."
Astral and Gale giggled. "So what are we doing here Auntie Luna?" Astral asked going to the window at the end of the small room.
"Well you two are…" Luna tried to think of something non-offensive to say while sitting down on the large couch. "So much fun that I need to sit down for a while, maybe read a book. I hear Ms. Twilight has been stocking the library with new ones. Maybe you can find one for us- me to read to you?"
"Okay Auntie." Astral said leading Gale into the main library. "Where do you think we should start?"
"Over there?" Gale said pointing towards a section labeled with A-C: Magical Mastery. on a plaque.
The Gears in Astral's head turned for a moment. He wasn't the best with words yet, not awful but not very good either, so he wasn't one hundred percent sure what was on that plaque other than the letters. He did think that maybe the kids section was under something else. How was Kid's spelled again? He answered his own question before thinking of what other words meant kids. Child….. Okay he wasn't sure of that one off the top of his head.
"Hang on." he told Gale as he spread his tinny wings and flew up to try and find the… K section of the library.
He ended up seeing four. And none of the plaques said "Kids" so their only way of fixing this was to walk around the whole library. They heard Luna poke her head out of the room once in a while to check on them but otherwise let them browse. She offered to help them find something but Astral insisted he could do it himself, Gale would've appreciated the help but was content to follow Astral for now. It wasn't until they got to the second half of the library that something did catch their attention. Though it wasn't a book.
Astral turned a full circle at the sound of whispering coming from somewhere. "Was that you?" He asked still trying to figure out the source of the voice.
"No." she said looking up at him hoping he'd have an answer.
"Did you hear it?"
"I think so."
The whisper came again but this time Astral could gain a direction, towards a book case. He couldn't quite make out what was said but it sounded faintly like somepony saying "Come here." Astral cautiously peaked around the shelf closest to the noise. It was against the wall of the section with no clear indication as to where the voice came from. He looked up and down the wall a few times but found nobody that could've made the sound. And he didn't hear any hoof steps or flapping wings.
"Find me children." the quiet stallion's voice called clearly from Astral's right.
Both pegasi's heads snapped to the right but found the emptiness that was there moments before. Only this time something felt more right about checking it out. The two started to move towards it when a much more familiar voice beckoned them.
"Astral, Gale, is everything alright out there?" Luna called, now stepping out of the room.
"Yes Ms. Woona." Gale answered. 	
Astral was just starting to move when Luna floated down behind them. "I called for you twice before. Are you sure everything is well children?"
"We're fine Ms. Woona."
Luna almost said it was good until she noticed her 'nephew' hadn't seemed to notice her landing. "Astral?"
The colt snapped to attention and turned around. He was much further down the book cases than he originally thought. "Yes Auntie?"
"Is everything alright Astral?"
Astral hesitated about telling her about the voice without a source. As much as Princess Luna could tell him about it, there was something intriguing in finding out what it was on his own. He made up his mind and decided to lie his little flank off.
"Yes Auntie, everything is fine." he said hiding his interest well enough.
"I'd hope so, we're going to be late for lunch."
"Okay Auntie Luna." Astral said as Luna lifted Gale onto her back with her magic.
The three started to make their way out of the library's lower exit to the throne room. Astral resisted the urge to look back to see if he could find the source of the disembodied voice in fear of Luna catching on. It helped that he was already formulating a plan to get back here and finding that voice. He knew it'd nag at him until tonight but he was just about willing to wait.