Angels and Demons

Five o'clock in the morning, just an hour before Celestia was supposed to raise the sun while Luna lowered the moon, came to the three royal alicorns earlier than some would have liked. For the sisters it was like every other day, though they had an hour to waste searching their mother's room for any signs of tampering, but for their brother it was a waste of time.

Midnight yawned and stared at the golden doors that served as the entrance to his mother's private chambers, the area that his sisters had insisted on making for their mother when she had told them she was staying for awhile. He hadn't seen his mother's room and didn't want to see it, but in order to show Celestia that they were being crazy he was going to have search through it. He just wanted to go back to his tower room, take off his royal jewelry, get back into bed with his marefriend, and get some well needed sleep before he even attempted to get the ponies of Canterlot to like him.

As his horn lit up he noticed that Celestia was giving him a look of disapproval, like she couldn't believe that he had been sleeping with one of his guards and still refused to believe it had happened. Luna, on the other hoof, was way past what Celestia was at. Instead of disapproving of his choices she was almost fuming, seeing how he could feel a powerful emotion rolling off from her and he wondered if she would ever get over it. Hopefully she didn't punish Night Gale too much and let her come back to the tower with him when he finished searching his mother's room.

The room itself was nothing and everything you would expect from the alicorn of creation. The room was just a fraction of the size of the ball room, but it was big enough for there to be a large queen sized bed, several bookshelves, and a chest that might have contained her personal armor or jewelry. The bookshelves were full of books, almost like Faust had added those she liked from the current selection the library had, but Midnight didn't give them any more than a single look. He was looking for signs of tampering that would lead him in the direction that his mother had been ponynapped and wasn't lingering somewhere, waiting for him to find her.

He was looking for the telltale signs of a demon or it's magic, but there was nothing suggest that a demon had been anywhere near the room. And, as he searched with his magic, he determined that there hadn't been a trace of demonic magic anywhere near Canterlot for the last couple of months. As in since he ripped a hole in the Dreamscape and returned to Equestria. Not his best moment.

After he had arrived, and after his defeat at his mother's hooves, he had thanked the new Bearers of Harmony for releasing him from his prison. They had been somewhat angry for being tricked into helping him escape, but they had gotten over their anger and had made an effort to get to truly know him. Unfortunately he had no interest in having them study him and was staying as far away from them as he could possibly get at the moment. He didn't want the new alicorn, the mare named Twilight Sparkle, to study him and try out his magic for her own personal reasons.

"Anything Midnight?" Celestia asked, her tone almost pleading.

"There's nothing here to say she's been ponynapped," Midnight sighed, his magic dying down, "I haven't seen any signs of tampering, magical or otherwise, so there is only one thing I can think of at the moment."

"And what would that be Brother?" Luna angrily asked, letting him know that she was still mad over his sleeping with one of her guards during her shift.

"She's not here," Midnight answered, trying to pass them as their wings stopped him, "Geez, what that means is that she returned to wherever she had come from. She is the alicorn of creation after all and that means that she likely has a couple of other worlds she needs to check up on, so she'll return when she's done checking up on them. So, when you actually discover something that could threaten our mother or her eventual return to her bedroom, your more than welcome to come bother me again. I'll be back in my tower if you need me."

Before his sisters could even lit their horns he was gone in a flash, teleporting right to his tower so he didn't have to talk to any of the guards or servants that he might have passed. What he didn't tell Celestia was that he had felt the familiar sting of demonic magic lurking somewhere near Ponyville, maybe in the Everfree Forest. The magic wasn't like young Twilight's magic, which was bright and vibrant, and had the feeling of being dark, vile, and corrupted. Somepony was using the darkest of arts and had either summoned a hound of Tartarus or may have been violently changed into one.

He was going to have to find out the answer for himself, but not after he got some rest.

~Faust's Room~

"That brother of ours," Luna nearly shouted, shaking her head as she gave the room a look over, "First we find him sleeping with one of his guards, then he says there's no way our mother was taken from us, and then he leaves without so much of a goodbye. He makes me so mad sometimes."

"Calm down Luna," Celestia said, the two leaving the room and closing the door behind them, "If you want to deal with Night Gale then you can do that on your own, but I have to go deal with the court after we switch the positions of the sun and moon. Faust knows that if we forget our celestial duty then we may find out what happened to her quicker than normal."

As they walked back towards their own rooms Luna cast a look behind her, catching the eyes of Night Gale, whose head was hung low while they walked. There wasn't any rules against sleeping with the pony your supposed to be protecting, Night knew that, but what she had failed to realize was that the sisters were protective of their brother. Still, she had the feeling that they, or more likely Princess Luna, was going to do something to her before she was even allowed anywhere near her coltfriend again.

"Your not going to be punished Night Gale," Celestia said, causing the mare to look up, "I'm not about to punish the mare that is making Midnight happy. However, I am going to have you be personally assigned to his roster the majority of the time, so there will be times when there will be a second guard with you. Please rejoin our brother and tell him...tell him I would like him to search Ponyville for any signs of our mother there."

Night bowed her head, spread her wings, and gracefully exited the opened hallway, heading for the tower that she knew Midnight was likely waiting in.

"Is it okay to really let them continue?" Luna asked, raising any eyebrow as they walked and connected to their celestial bodies, "Midnight cannot be allowed to sleep with somepony from our guard."

"They are clearly in love Luna," Celestia remarked, "and, as Cadence would say, it is best not to ruin true love. Besides, he fell for the old captain of his old guard, so it doesn't surprise me that he's gone after a mare from one of ours. Give them time and I'm sure he'll find something that will tell him where our mother has vanished off to."

Luna sighed, she had the feeling that there was something Midnight had neglected to tell them before he hastily disappeared and returned to his tower. Something that could make them reconsider sending him out to Ponyville.