Fancy Pants doesn’t know what to expect when he receives his invitation to the royal masked ball. As far as he knows, there hasn’t been one for more than a thousand year. He is the most important pony in Canterlot; never shall be said a royal party would be held without his presence.

After all, it shouldn’t be very different from all those parties he has already attended, should it?

This was originally written for the WriteOff contest The Twilight Zone. You can read the original here (Be aware that it was written in two hours. Read at your own risk).
A huge thank to MonoKeras and Orbiting Kettle for their time, their advice and their patience.