Canterlot Research Tower, the former study room of Twilight Sparkle, was now home to another pony, only this one was even more content to leave himself locked away with dozens upon dozens of books for an extended period of time. The literary works of others, such as the author of Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone and the author of Slumber 101, were his companions. He had two thousand years of books, a couple hundred of which were located in the Crystal Empire Library, to catch up on and he had spent the majority of the last two months alone.
And by alone he meant spending every waking hour pouring over every tome he could get his hooves on, reading from the wee hours of the morning to the late hours of the night, using a candle or the sun to see the words.
Midnight sighed and set down the book he was reading, rubbing his tired eyes as his horn ignited and restored several of the candles throughout the room to a full flame again. He had made several changes to the room, seeing how he would be spending so much time in what was likely his permanent residence, and had even thrown in a bed on the second story area. Of the few things he had brought up to him he had included a sofa, to read on, a table, so he could eat and read at the same time, and a large wooden chest, so he could keep his jewelry locked up.
He took a look down at the table and remembered that the chiefs had been told to bring something to him at breakfast and at dinner, though he usually let it get cold and fed it to whatever came to his window at night.
Course he usually ate the apples that came to him and ignored the rest. Should he be hungry from weeks of neglect? Yes, he should be, but he was a freaking alicorn and he didn't want to be bothered getting up twice a day for food that he was likely never going to develop a taste for. His sisters were likely worrying about him, but he wanted to make sure he was ready to adjust to life in Canterlot and to do that he had to read every book he could get his hooves on. For him, at the moment anyway, food was far less important, even if his stomach grumbled in need every now and then.
"Your majesty? Are you still in here?"
Midnight's ears twitched, he could have sworn that his sisters had posted a small roster of guards to stand outside his residence and only one would be there at any given time. As memory served he thought his sisters had told whoever had been chosen to stand guard that they were not to enter the tower, just to remain motionless and silent like always. He figured that being a single guard, at one of the most secluded areas of Canterlot, guarding a stallion that they have never seen before, must have been extremely boring. But was it boring enough to actually open the doors, at a time that wasn't breakfast or dinner time, and actually speak to who the guard was supposed to be guarding?
Midnight figured that it was possible that the guard was bored enough to try speaking to him, maybe even have a conversation if it got that far.
He lifted his head so he could peer over the ledge and see who had opened the door, trying not to knock over his book or the candles around him. Waiting on the other side of an open door, sticking her head into the tower, was what appeared to be one of Luna's Lunar Guards, if the dark blue armor with a light blue gem in the center was anything to go by. Her blue iron guard shoes tapped the floor quite a bit, as if she was waiting for something, and her golden colored eyes seemed to scan the room. She was definitely like the rest of Luna's guards, what with the small fangs, the ears with little fluffs at the end, the bat like wings, and the cat like eyes that he had seen countless times before.
Course, he had been summoned to his sister's conference chamber and given a rundown on who might be guarding him, so he knew several names off the top his head. However, he didn't recall there being a mare on the list and assumed that she had either been recently assigned to the tower or he had forgotten a name or two.
"I'm up here," Midnight called down, stretching his wings and legs as he walked down the stairs to the first story, "or, rather, down here now. I assume that its dinner time and my sisters insist on having the chiefs deliver something to me anyway, despite the fact I keep telling them I will not join them for the family meal?"
"No sir," the mare answered, "The Royal Family dinner was an hour ago and Princess Celestia expressed her displeasure that you continue to blow her and Princess Luna off. Though Faust keeps telling them that it will take time for you to get adjusted to living amongst living ponies again and that, given enough time, you'll find another marefriend to take your mind off of things."
Faust was the sixth alicorn living in Equestria at the moment, though she was the fourth in Canterlot at that moment. She was as tall as Celestia, with the wings and the horn to match, and even had the same white colored coat as her daughter, though her mane and tail were colored bright red. Most ponies either saw her as a unicorn or a pegasus, though the truth was that as long as her magic continued to flow there was no way for them to know she was the creator of the world they all lived on. Her cutie mark was an ink well with a quill in it, which most linked to writing or drawing.
Whenever Faust dined with her family she usually didn't mind that he was missing, choosing to believe he would come when he was ready and not a moment before. She was the deity of creation, she could afford to be patient with him. Personally, Midnight was going to stay as far away from his sisters, and that included his mother, until he was sure their precious ponies were ready to see him. The last time he had tried interacting with the ponies of Canterlot he had been called several...nasty names to say the least, had nearly lost his temper, and could have leveled part of the city if he hadn't gotten a hold on his magic.
Which is why he stayed locked up all the time and ignored everypony else. Except for the occasional guard and the chief's assistants that brought up his meals.
"I don't think I caught your name," Midnight said, drawing the mare into the tower and closing the door behind her, "but I am pretty sure you were told my name when you were assigned to this tower."
"Your Prince Midnight, brother of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna," the mare answered, surprised that he could still move that fast, "and I suppose that its only fair I tell you my name. My name is Night Gale."
Now Midnight remembered her name. He had gotten so caught up in his reading that he had forgotten that there was a mare he enjoyed being around, namely the guard that kept coming to see him. He enjoyed blocking some of the mare's memories and seeing if she would do the same thing every single time she came to him, where he would restore them and they'd enjoy some time together. His horn lit up for a brief moment, the magic stealing the shroud that he had placed over her mind, and returned before the mist had been removed from her eyes.
"You really have to stop doing that Midnight," Night whispered, nearly jumping onto her coltfriend, "I don't mind keeping a secret from the Princesses, but sooner or later you'll have to tell them the truth."
"Oh come on Nighty," Midnight smiled, using his magic to help take the armor off piece by piece, "I was only playing around. If I can hide the fact that I found a marefriend for two months, without leaving my residence, then I'm pretty sure I can tell my family the truth at some point. Now, come here my little snuggle bug."
As soon as all the armor was off Midnight grabbed Night with his magic and they were both on his bed, both of them grinning like they didn't have a care in the world. He threw the blanket over her and got under them with her, never minding that he had requested that the bed be modified so two could fit on it. That meant a blanket that could cover the two of them, a bed frame that would fit the larger sized bed, the actual mattress built for two, and two pillows so they didn't fight over them. Celestia had inquired as to why he would ever need such a bed, but his mother knew that he wanted to find a new marefriend and wanted the bed prepared ahead of everything else.
So long as nopony came looking for him he was fairly sure that they could spend a couple hours alone before it was time for Night to change out with the next guard.
~The tower, three hours later~
Two large, rather regal figures, walked up the stairs leading to the research tower. They were none other than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, daughters of the alicorn Faust and sisters of Prince Midnight. The rest of their family, meaning Sombra, Chrysalis, and Discord, were busy elsewhere and they couldn't very well travel to the Hive and the Crystal Empire to tell their family what was up. Their secluded brother was the first one they were going to tell their news to, but when they reached the door and found no guard they wondered if something was up.
"Where is the guard on duty?" Luna asked her sister, her eyes scanning the area while she searched for anything out of the ordinary, "Please tell me our brother hasn't been assaulted in his own private residence and the guard's laying somewhere, either wounded or trying to nurse a broken leg."
"Calm down Luna," Celestia told her sister, her magic slowly opening the tower door, "Maybe the guard wondered off and Midnight knows something about it. I doubt he had...something to do with it?"
As soon as the door was open she caught a sight of two ponies sleeping on Midnight's bed, the pony closest to them being the sleeping form of their brother. Behind him, with her back turned to the tower door, was what Celestia believed to be the guard that was supposed to be guarding the door and their brother. Then she noticed the Lunar Guard armor scattered around the area that the door opened to, her hoof scrapping the helmet without even knowing it.
Luna couldn't believe it; she had assigned several of her own guards to her brother and now she was finding out that he had actually fallen for one of them. Maybe, once she knew exactly which guard it was, she could reassign them or something, so they would be away from her brother enough to clear their head. She picked up one of the iron guard shoes and knocked it on the table, her brother moving slightly before his head emerged from under the blanket and looking their way.
"Ah, Luna, Celestia, what brings you guys here?" Midnight sleepily said, like he was tired from a day of doing nothing but reading, "Wait a minute."
As the reality sunk in that his sisters were actually standing on the first story he jolted awake and took the blanket covers with him, leaving the sleeping mare with nothing. Unfortunately the mare didn't stay asleep, because once the covers were off she began to stir until she was staring down at the Princesses as well. She wasn't fully awake, but she was awake enough to know that she was in deep trouble for sleeping with their brother.
"Midnight," Celestia said, staring up at the pair, "Normally we would say something about sleeping with your guards, but we have more pressing matters at the moment."
"Really?" Midnight asked, rubbing his eyes again, "What's the matter this time?"
"Somehow our mother has gone missing," Celestia explained, hoping that Midnight would respond to something like this, "We don't know how, but somehow our mother has been ponynapped."
"Just one question," Midnight sighed, annoyed at this point, "How does a freaking goddess get ponynapped?"
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.