Last week I had been using Norton Antivirus, and long story short, I had to have my hard drive replaced. So, I'm not making that mistake again. Anyway, in spirit of the holidays, a double post before I get back to work at updating later chapters. Please, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I, Lord Genesis Shadow, do hereby state that I do not own the rights to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Thank you.

'As Daring Do contemplated her actions, she looked over every exit point.' I read. 'One wrong move would surely lead to certain doom, and that was under perfect circumstances. And in this case, circumstances were as far from perfect as possible.' I turned the page with a thought, keeping a tissue close just in case. 'She slowly moved the idol and pressed down on the pressure plate while setting the equally weighted bag of sand in its place. With a quiet breath, she put the idol away and stood up triumphantly, looking toward the hole in the ceiling she had come through. 'Finally,' she thought, 'an easy recovery.'' As I went to read further, there was a knock at the door, so I moved the bookmark in place and set the book aside, standing up and stretching my legs before jogging toward the door, putting my cloak on along the way. I opened the door to see Twilight. "Good morning."

"Actually, it's noon." She said. I blinked and stepped back to look at my clock as she laughed. "And it's Nightmare Night tomorrow, you know. Are you going out to have some fun?" I thought about the costume I had made.

"Yeah." I said. "I, uh, actually made my costume last week. Spent a lot of time getting it just right…"

"Wow, you're making a lot of progress." She said.

"And, I'll give you one spoiler about it." I said. She walked in. "I won't be, hiding my wings." She stared at me.

"Are you sure?" She asked. I nodded, smiling a little.

"It's, a small tradition." I said. "On Nightmare Night, I'd always forgo my cloak completely, and hide out in my tent." She laughed quietly. "This year… Full costume, and I'm going to let my wings be part of it. Best part is I don't have to spring for a Galmour Charm."

"Oh, yeah those are expensive." She said quietly. "I wanted to run a test on one once, and, let's just say I'm glad I always had lunch with Princess Celestia, or I wouldn't have eaten for a week." I laughed.

"I believe you." I said.

"So, you're really going to show the whole town?" She asked. "I thought it'd take, a lot longer… No offense."

"None taken." I said. "And I'm not really showing everyone. Actually that's something I meant to talk to you and the others about. Don't, tell anyone that they're my real wings yet." She nodded, smiling a little. "Sort of just, testing the waters, you know? I'd much rather see a general reaction first, and after that, we'll see."

"Alright, I'll tell the others." She said. "I think Applejack will have the most trouble though." We both laughed. "But, she won't be lying if she just says 'it's part of the costume', since it is." She turned a little. "Well, I was stopping by to see if we'd see you tomorrow night. You'll never guess who I'm going as." I smirked, having a few ideas already forming. "Hope I recognize you." She walked out and closed the door, so I stretched my wings. I turned and walked to the kitchen, but there was another knock at the door.

"Come in." I called. The door opened and I listened to the hooves, and I looked over my shoulder after figuring on Rarity, and I was right. "I was just about to make lunch."

"Oh, I wish I could stay, but I'm actually going to the spa with Fluttershy." She said. "I came by to ask, if you had finished working on your costume, and if I might get a chance to see it?"

"Yeah, I finished it last night." I said. "It's in the library." I felt a little excitement from her so I gestured. "Go ahead and take a look if you'd like. I'll get to work on lunch, which, will also be my breakfast." She smiled and walked toward the library as I opened the fridge and began pulling things out, setting a pan on the stove. 'Pancake… Yeah, that sounds good.' I pulled the ingredients out and began mixing them, deciding on a multi-berry buttermilk with strawberry-blueberry syrup. After I put them in the pan, I heard Rarity skipping out of the library.

"Simply marvelous!" She said happily. "Your stitchwork is as amazing as before, and the colors work so well together, subtly, but worthy of the attention it receives." She walked over. "Might I ask if there are any makeup requirements?" I smiled a little.

"No, but I do intend to forgo my glasses." I said. "I bought some contacts to make my eyes a different color, as well as let me see properly, and a special twenty four hour mane dye. After that, you might just not remember that it's me at first."

"Oh, we wouldn't forget you, for even a moment." She said. "You have been such a good friend to us all, and with all you've done for us, we would recognize you no matter the disguise." I smiled as I flipped the pancake over.

"Thanks." I said, looking at her. "I'm glad I've got such good friends. I, honestly never thought I'd ever have so many. I feel a lot better for all I've been able to do." She walked over and put her front leg lightly over my shoulder.

"Ace, you have been an absolutely wonderful friend to us all." She said. "I daresay that things would have turned out quite differently without you." I smiled a little more. "Well, I must be off. I'll give Fluttershy your warm regards."

"Thanks Rarity." I said. "I'll see you tomorrow night." She nodded and bowed before walking out. I turned back to my pancake and flipped it onto the plate before pouring a second.

I stared out at the town as night began to fall, and I smiled, looking at the mirror. I grabbed the fake fangs and put them in my mouth. They were designed not to impede my speech, and as I opened my mouth, I let out a slow, threatening hiss. I stared into the mirror at my eyes, and smiled. The color change was to make my eyes randomly glow with mobile blue splotches amongst the red, making it unclear which was the true color. My hair had been dyed white, and was now hanging as a sheet down both sides of my neck. I put the last touch on, a pocketed kerchief, red, to go against the black suit jacket. I adjusted the collar one last time and turned my head a little.

"Not bad." I said. "Not bad at all. And around morning, my tail and mane, revert to blue…" I turned and walked out of my bedroom, confidently jumping and gliding down to the front door. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths before opening it and stepping out, closing it behind me. 'No fear. No fear, Ace, you're already out here. It's too late to go back in…' I blinked. 'Is that a giant chicken?' I suddenly realized who it was as she turned and clucked like the bird she dressed as. 'Chicken Pie? Pinkie, you sure know how to surprise.' I walked out calmly and looked around at everypony as they laughed and enjoyed themselves. I'd also chosen to make the insides of my wings slightly red, to seem like a cloak if I stood and partly opened them just away from my body. I hoped to try that out later. But as I walked, Pinkie hopped over and let out a loud chicken-esque squawk.

"Happy Nightmare Night!" She said happily. "Hey, how's Ace doing? You just walked out of his house, so, why isn't he out here yet?"

"Pinkie, it's me." I said. She stared.

"Ace?" She asked. She suddenly put her hoof to her forehead. "Oh, right, you were going without the cloak tonight! Ooh, how did I forget?!"

"I'm going to say it was the thoughts of getting candy." I said. She laughed after a second. "After all, that's part of what tonight's about, right?" She nodded rapidly, her face a blur, even the chicken beak on her nose.

"Yup, and it's gonna be a great one this year!" She said. "I'm showing a few of the kids around as a chaperone!"

"Sounds like a blast." I said. She giggled. "Well, I'll leave you to it. Just don't fall into a kettle."

"Why?" She asked.

"You'd be, Chicken Pot Pie." I said in a semi-dry humored tone. She laughed for a few moments as I chuckled under my breath, and she walked off.

"I've got to remember that one!" She said. "Ooh, Derpy! Derpy! Nice costume!" I looked as she shot over toward a gray coated mare with a blonde mane, and she wore a set of paper bags on each hoof and one on her head. I hadn't seen her around all that often but she was friendly when I spoke to her. After a moment of them talking, I walked over as both of them laughed.

"Happy Nightmare Night." Derpy said as Pinkie Pie hopped away toward a small group of kids. "Oh, hi Ace."

"Happy Nightmare Night." I said. She smiled. "Find any good treats yet?" She nodded quickly.

"Yup, some of my favorites." She said, somewhat proudly. "And I won a coupon for a dozen free muffins from Sugarcube Corner!" I smiled as we both laughed.

"Share the wealth, if you can." I said. She looked at me for a moment.

"Who are you supposed to be, Ace?" She asked. She tilted her head. "I don't know anypony with, wings like that… How'd you do that, anyway?"

"I, have my methods." I said in a mysterious tone. I was nervous, but after showing my friends, it was just a little easier to hide it. "And, I am a vampire, a creature of the night." I bared the fake fangs and she laughed after a few seconds. "I made the clothes myself."

"Wow, you did a great job." She said. "I just found these bags and figured, why not? Recycling is fun!" I nodded. "Ooh, I gotta go, they're doing a raffle!" She flapped her wings and flew off, narrowly avoiding a lamp post. I laughed at her enthusiasm. She was friendly, if a bit unlucky at times, but she always had her heart in the right place, though there was the time she was moving a storm cloud and a quick tackle to move it faster nearly got me hit by a lightning bolt.

I walked a ways before finding that no one really paid any attention to me, and it made me a little more bold. I stood a little taller as I went toward the library, just as Twilight stepped out. I laughed as Pinkie rushed up with some children, and promptly misaddressed her costume, Starswirl the Bearded. When they walked away, she calmed down and walked a ways before spotting me.

"Wow, your costume looks great, Ace." She said. "And the wings work perfectly with it." I opened them a little to look at them.

"A classic outfit, based around what makes me, me." I said. She laughed.

"Well, one thing's for sure, you're more confident than when we first met." She said. "Even if it is just for tonight, and then until you're comfortable enough." I nodded after a moment and gestured.

"And even with that, my costume pales in comparison to Starswirl the Bearded." I said. She smiled almost victoriously. "I think he would have been proud at your attention to detail and period accuracy."

"I know, I spent hours working on it from a number of pictures." She said. "You wouldn't believe how many books I had to go through to get the hat right."

"His autobiography had a great number of pictures with good angles." I said. She seemed surprised. "I've read a lot of spell books, and his work greatly inspired Kerrigan Lightstrider, whom I am, quite possibly, the biggest fan of."

"I don't know about that." She said. "I've got a signed copy of her first edition leather bound copy of her magical theories regarding mana channeling and the use of mental incantations to speed along basic spells."

"I have a magically written pre-write of her dissertation on the same subject." I said. She stared. "As well as the very scroll upon which the most recent editions of magical theory are based upon, complete with corner notes."

"How, how could you possibly have gotten that?!" She asked. "Wouldn't she have kept that for herself? Or, I don't know, had it framed?"

"Let's just say that despite my personal issues, I'm a close friend." I said mysteriously.

"Ace, you've got to be kidding!" She said. "Kerrigan Lightstrider hasn't left Canterlot in the last seventeen years! There's no way you could have that!"

"Stop by later and I'll show you." I said. "Sheesh, if you're that surprised, wait until you see the rest of my rare collection." After a moment we both laughed and I gestured. "I'm going to walk around for a bit, but, what do you say we go see how the apple bob is going?"

"Sure, why n-n-n…" She stuttered. I blinked as she looked up, so I turned my gaze to see, a dark blue chariot being pulled by several Pegasi with, wings, just like mine. I turned completely, taking shaky steps back, and it landed in the center of town, with Princess Luna standing on top of it. "Princess Luna? Here? In Ponyville?!"

"Y-yeah…" I said quietly. "Their wings… Twilight, their wings! The wings on the guards, er, chariot… Them!" I took a slow step forward. "Twilight, their wings are…" She slowly looked at me, but before she could speak, Princess Luna began speaking very loudly, in the old traditional Royal We manner of speech, promptly scaring away dozens of ponies all at once. But as Twilight cringed, I took a step.

"Wait, Ace." She said. "That's a glamour charm!" I stopped and stared, and spotted them, and I almost felt how low my wings were drooping. "I, I'm sorry… But, sometimes… The royal guards use charms like that so they can scare children on Nightmare Night. I, wish I'd have known in advance."

"N-no, it's my fault." I said quietly. "I mean… My wings are… Unique. How often are there Pegasi, born with wings, like this?" After a moment I shook my head and opened my wings, closing them against my body. "No. I'm not going to, start moping. Tonight, is Nightmare Night. The one night of the year I can walk around with my wings like this without fear. I'm going to, enjoy this."

"I, think I should talk to Princess Luna." She said. "She looks, kind of sad… Um, rain check on the apple bob?" I looked at her and nodded.

"I'll hold you to it." I said. She laughed. "If I have to get a bucket, water, and apples, and do it sometime later this week."

I settled onto the grass and sighed quietly, staring at Ponyville. As I got comfortable, I heard soft hoofsteps on the grass.

"You are Twilight Sparkles friend, Ace Stormrider, are you not?" A regal voice asked. I got up and turned to see Princess Luna, so I bowed.

"I am, your highness." I said respectfully. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance." She laughed softly.

"Rise, young Stormrider." She said. I stood up as she walked over. "I was, mistaken, about what this night was about, and I nearly cancelled it due to not understanding that the fine ponies of Ponyville enjoyed being a little, startled." She sat down, so I turned to sit facing Ponyville.

"Every now and then, a little excitement is fun." I said. "And tonight, well, I chose this outfit mostly to, sneak up and scare a few of my friends, namely Pinkie Pie." She laughed.

"The pink one, yes, she is rather amusing." She said. "I am surprised at how far you have come from what my sister has told me of you." I swallowed quietly. "Your fear of ridicule as a child, completely gone, and only weeks after the gala."

"Well, tonight is, a special case." I said. "No one thinks that these wings are really mine. They figure, that I've got a glamour charm, or…"

"Or?" She repeated. I shook my head.

"I know they wouldn't understand, but they probably think I've gotten my wings enchanted." I said. "Probably by Twilight's magic, but…" She laughed with me and I put my hoof to my head. "Without a glamour charm, it would take a lot of focus to hide my wings, constantly, and any illusion spell with any lasting effect would take far too much effort in the first place, and even then, it'd last maybe two hours."

"Few ponies know of such limitations of magic." She said. "But as I understand it, your mother made such spells easier to perform, even if they are still excruciatingly difficult." I was silent. "So, you are not, entirely over your, reluctance to show your wings normally."

"I've shown more ponies this year than I have for the last eleven." I said quietly. "I'm, not quite there, but I'm closer than I've ever been… Having friends, makes it easier."

"I imagine so." She said. After a moment, she moved a little. "What is your opinion, of Nightmare Night, if I may ask?"

"I think, it's a great night." I said. "Everypony has fun, they make or buy costumes, set up festive booths and games, colts and fillies go out and enjoy themselves and get candy, and, a few pranks here and there keep ponies on their hooves, but in a fun way… And it's the one night each year I didn't bother putting my cloak on if I had to leave my tent. No one would know my wings were real, so, no fear… Ironic, really." She laughed quietly and I pointed to a small storm cloud with Rainbow Dash sitting on it. "And I've had to keep an eye on Rainbow all night because she's trying to zap me."

"So I've seen, several times." She said. "I decided to use her own trick against her near the statue of, my dark stricken form…"

"I suppose a few good things came of that, incident." I said. "You may have lost time, and caused a lot of fear and trouble, but without Nightmare Moon, Twilight would never have met her friends, and we wouldn't have Nightmare Night." She smiled a little. "Without Nightmare Moon… I wouldn't, have met Twilight, and her friends, and became their friend, either. I would have just, stayed with the circus, and lived out a lot more of my life hiding in the shadows because of my wings."

"An interesting point of view." She said. "Though, another question, if I may?" I nodded as I looked at her. "Why are you out here, when the festivities are in town?" I looked toward the lights and booths.

"I've always preferred quiet places, to sit and think." I said. "It's, just part of being me. I like having fun with my friends, but, once in a while, I like to sit alone and enjoy some peace and quiet. Sort of why I prefer the night, really. Everyone else goes to bed, to sleep, but, I stay up for a little while longer to enjoy the night air, the still quiet, and the stars above and the shapes one can make with them." She looked up with me. "Maybe it's my wings, but, maybe, it's because my mother was a scholar. I like doing anything that, makes me think. And night is the best time, because, there's fewer ponies out so late, so the quiet night air seems more, pensive."

"I had always lamented my fate as the princess of the night." She said softly. "Everypony would laud my sister's talent to raise the sun, to bask in its warmth, and treat her so well, while rarely enjoying the night as she would. Those that did were rarely doing so for any purposes of good, pickpockets out waiting for an easy target, thieves waiting to break into the house, to use the dark of night to cover their entry and escape. Such darkness became thought of as evil, that it was better to stay in at night than risk danger, and that the light of day was safer. I became so jealous of my sister, that I lost myself, and took the dark form purely to, remove her, to take her life, and become a ruler that forced ponies to live in the night, even if all I could manage was one half of the world." She looked up at the moon. "It is easy to blame evil on darkness and the night making ponies think they are better able to get away with crimes, but there is evil in the light, that is merely well hidden." I nodded as I looked up as well. "I believe that my thousand year slumber within the moon was truly necessary to make it easier for Twilight Sparkle and the others to cleanse the darkness that had taken root in my heart. That so much more good came of it, I am glad that my sister did what was necessary." She looked at Ponyville as I settled onto my stomach, my hooves tucked under me, carefully.

"No stories told of such possibilities, except for the oldest." I said. "Nightmare Moon was, after a certain point, seen as jealousy, but for different reasons, jealousy, of Celestia being the older sister, the 'more experienced and wiser', though truly, what was the age difference, maybe a year or two?" She nodded. "I had always wondered which legends, which stories, held the most truth of them all. Each, had a little, but which one would hold more than all of the others, which one held all of the grains the others held, and more?" I looked up. "It took a few years, on a return trip to Canterlot where I felt particularly bold, and I found myself in a café, listening to a guard. A story, passed down through the ranks, for a thousand years, told more or less what you have told me. Jealousy that the time during which you watched over Equestria, the night, was spent as the time most ponies slept, that few would try to stay awake during the night, or take jobs at night, to make the whole of Equestria eternally active and alive." She smiled a little. "It was the story I believed the most, not because it was told by the guards, but because it made the most sense. Jealousy of wisdom and age, when you were both wiser than most ponies could imagine? Jealousy of a sister who was seen more often due to ponies preferring the warmth of the day, that made sense, because sometimes, a pony just wants to be appreciated for what they do, even if they're ageless and nigh-immortal." She smiled a little more as I looked at her. "I may have preferred to be private, but when I was on the tightrope, it felt good, knowing the crowd appreciated my skills, my act. I had the best of both worlds. Appreciation for what I did, and privacy of being so high above the crowd."

"You are wiser than I had expected." She said. "I am sure your mother would be very proud of you for such thoughtfulness." I smiled and looked at the town. "Perhaps, someday, you will have the strength to return to Canterlot, and you can reconcile with your family. Of this, I feel a bond with you." I looked at her. "I tried to cast my sister down out of jealousy, to rid myself of family. You have cut ties with your own, but I know that someday, like me, you will find yourself reunited, and forgiven."

"I hope so." I said quietly. "All I know for sure, is that I can't face my father right now. I just, don't know how he would react. If he were mad at me, I'm sure it would break my mother's heart again."