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", "writing": "Everyone knew there were dungeons below Canterlot palace. Everyone knew there were criminals housed there for one crime or another. What they didn’t know was the identity or history of these criminals. No one knew what they had done to be imprisoned in the heavily guarded dungeons, even the guards were tight-lipped about it. \nPrincess Luna often visited the prisoners at night, when they were more susceptible to her nightmares and unique interrogation methods. Some would say she even took pleasure in taking her anger out on the prisoners, often falling back into her Nightmare Moon antics, which caused quite a stir when she had emerged from a particular session covered in blood. She had assured her worried sister she was fine and had reverted to the small Alicorn she usually was.\nTonight, she was visiting a newer arrival to the dungeons. This prisoner was proving to be a challenge to break, which irritated Princess Luna. She wasn’t used to failure, but when she had looked into his mind, the darkness she had found there had almost swallowed her whole. A shiver ran over her body at the mere thought of the touch of his thoughts and she steeled herself as she approached the cell where the prisoner was.\nHe was chained; his forehooves bound and raised while his rear were chained to the floor. There was enough slack to allow him some relaxation; he could lift himself so he balanced on his rear hooves, which allowed his forelegs some degree of respite from their raised position. \nHe looked up as she approached and an amused smile danced over his muzzle. His coat was a deep gray, making him hard to locate among the shadows of the cell, but his red and white mane and tail stood out easily enough, dirty as they were.\n“Hello again, Princess Luna,” he said in his quiet voice, which Luna honestly found rather hypnotic. She wondered who he truly was and where he was really from, but he refused to answer that question with a straight answer and any dreams he may have had of his home were so dark and corrupted they were painful to interact with.\nLuna didn’t say anything and simply watched him silently. He matched her gaze and she found his silver orbs almost as hypnotic as his voice. When they had brought him in, they had given him a cursory physical to determine his health. He was a young pegasus stallion, hardly older than Princess Celestia’s protégé, Twilight Sparkle, if not even younger. \n“So, going to be a little more talkative this time?” Luna asked, breaking the silence. The dark-coated Pegasus smiled slightly. \n“That depends if you ask the right questions, and how I feel at the time you answer them,” he replied, his voice once again flat, giving away nothing. Luna narrowed her eyes and looked at him thoughtfully.\n“Well, we might as well start off with the basics,” she said, leaning against the bars of the cell, her eyes never leaving the dark Pegasus. “What is your name?”\n“Midnight Runner.”\nLuna knew that much, at least, from his dreams. Plus he had introduced himself when they had found him wandering near the southern Equestrian border. What they still didn’t know was why he had been near the border. \n“Do you know where you are?” Luna asked.\n“Beneath Canterlot’s Royal Palace, in the rarely used dungeons,” he replied, sounding bored.\n“Do you know why?” she continued.\n“Because apparently you think I’m dangerous,” there was definitely a tone of amusement in his voice.\n“Aren’t assassins trained to appear innocent and unthreatening?” Luna countered.\n“Fair enough,” Midnight conceded. Luna frowned at his easy submission and fought back an annoyed growl.\n“Why were you poking around the southern border?” she asked. \n“Because that’s where I had come from,” came the deadpan reply. Luna sighed. That had been his answer every time she had asked.\n“Why, though?” she pressed him.\n“Because the southern kingdom was getting…” here, he hesitated, as if trying to find the right words. “Corrupt, I guess you could say. Its rulers had started abusing their power to bring their subjects under complete control. They began using the military to put down even small fights.”\nLuna again knew that much from other refugees fleeing the south, but it didn’t explain why he had come north and crossed the border. There were several border-crossing stations and refugees had been coming across slowly. Some settled in Princess Celestia’s land, others kept going north or branched out to the east and west borders.\n“Why didn’t you cross at a station?” she prodded and she heard him sigh and saw his mane move as if he was shaking his head.\n“Because they ask too many questions that I don’t have the answers to.” \n\nLuna felt his eyes bore into her. \n\n“Much like you, actually,” he said, his tone turning musing.\n“I only ask them to see if you’re a threat to my sister’s rule,” Luna said curtly and she sensed his amusement. \n“Who, me? All I am is a Pegasus trying to start a new life without having everything I do questioned and analyzed,” Midnight said softly, shifting in the chains.\nLuna pricked her ears at his words and she tilted her head as she thought about his words.\n“Why would they question your work?” she asked carefully.\n“Because they thought I was a threat to the peace and stability they had so…carefully constructed,” It was clear from his scathing tone he didn’t think much of those with authority, which Luna had to admit rubbed her the wrong way.\n“And what was the nature of your work?” she asked.\n“Magic,” he said curtly, which made Luna pause and consider her reply. She opened her mouth, only to close it as she tried to formulate a question for the next round of verbal fencing.\n“You’re a Pegasus, why would you research magic?” she asked, which caused him to smile and shake his head.\n“Of course you wouldn’t understand,” he replied, stretching as much as he could in the shackles’ embrace. “I’ve always been fascinated by magic,” he looked at her again. “Haven’t you always wondered about why unicorns can use magic while earth ponies can’t? Or how pegasi can fly despite having wings that are too small to provide the necessary lift?”\nLuna blinked and was silent for a while before she finally spoke.\n“We have teams of unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies working on solving those mysteries, actually.” She said, causing Midnight to perk up and lean forward. “They’ve come to a few rather interesting conclusions about magic among the different pony breeds,” she smiled at him and he sighed. “Unfortunately, I can’t share the results with prisoners,” she said sweetly and he dropped his gaze.\nLuna frowned as he seemed to lose interest in her and she wondered if she’d be able to draw him back out.\n“Tell me, Princess, why do you only come by at night to ask questions?” he asked, surprising her by starting off with a question.\n“I don’t have to answer your questions,” she replied, letting a hint of frost coat her words and he looked at her with a raised brow.\n“Either you’re hiding something or you don’t know the answer yourself.” he said, making her tense up. Luna fought back the strange wave of anger that threatened to break over her and she regarded him coolly.\n“Unlike you, I am not the one at fault here,” she replied with an amused smile and Midnight laughed. \n“That’s a good one, I’ll have to remember it.” He relaxed in his chains and looked at her with amusement in his silvery eyes.\n“Of course you’re at fault here. All I want is a new life away from scrutiny, and yet here I am, being scrutinized by the Princess of the Night herself, about a topic she has under control already,” Midnight said, causing Luna’s eyes to flash.\nShe flung open the cell door and she loomed over the bound Pegasus. He matched her stare and she hesitated.\n“So, what should I do with you then?” she replied, her face inches from his own. He gazed at her for a moment and tilted his head. \n“The easy solution would be letting me go, but I can tell you want to keep me close so you can keep an eye on me and report any odd behavior to your sister,” he said, not at all disturbed at the proximity of the volatile princess.\nLuna backed off a step and gazed down at him, her expression thoughtful. \n“What you say is true,” she admitted. “Perhaps my sister will allow me to keep you as a…” her voice trailed off as she sought a suitable word.\n“A pet, perhaps?” Midnight offered. Luna snorted in amusement, but she didn’t dismiss the idea.\n“More like a…pet project, I guess,” she finally said. Her horn flashed and she gripped Midnight in her magic, pulling him close to her. “Hopefully you’ll last longer than my other projects. I feel like there’s a lot I can learn from you,” Her voice was a low purr and Midnight saw a flicker of something in her eyes that suggested her teaching methods were far from gentle.\n“Sounds interesting,” He said. \nLuna wondered which of them would break first.\n\n-\n\nIf there was one thing Midnight Runner hated the most about underground dungeons, it was a lack of light.\n\nNo windows. No torches. No light. The dungeons were designed to dull the sense of time passing. Midnight had no idea how long he had been here. Maybe it had been days, maybe it had been weeks.\n\nEven the meals were given at seemingly random times. Sometimes he went hungry for a long time, and then was fed one or two meals in quick succession. The food was delivered magically to him. The only way he even had an idea of where it was located was by the smell.\n\nMidnight pricked his ears as he heard the sound of hooves headed his way. He waited patiently, eyes closed as they grew louder. Finally, they stopped and he cracked open his eyes. \n\nA pony stood in front of his cage, their horn glowing faintly, not bright enough to hurt his light-deprived eyes.\n\nHe found himself gazing upwards at a very large, yet slim, Alicorn. He let his eyes wander over her pearly white coat, her golden-shod hooves and her golden regalia before he met her gaze.\n\n“Princess Celestia,” he murmured. “What an honor it is to meet you. Forgive me if I don’t bow,” he added, somewhat sarcastically as he jangled his shackles, causing the Princess to wince at the noise.\n\n“I apologize for the treatment,” she said, sighing as she glanced around the dark dungeons. “I honestly wish we didn’t have to use these, but the nobles demanded them.”\n\nMidnight smiled thinly. “Ah, yes, the nobles; the real power in Canterlot. Didn’t you spend a millennia stripping them of their power over the common pony, to bring about an era of peace and prosperity under your kind and just rule?”\n\nCelestia didn’t meet his eyes and she shook her head. “They’ve made it difficult. Their laws are getting harder and harder to decipher. Most of them are designed to restore power to them. Lately, I’ve taken to denying their requests, especially ones that allow them to keep armed ponies in their employ.”\n\n“Preventing them from raising up an army against you,” Midnight murmured. “Heh…clever bastards.” He looked at the Princess of the Sun and tilted his head. “But that’s not why you’re really here, is it?” he asked.\n\nCelestia bit her lip as she regarded the dark-colored pegasus. “No, it’s not,” she admitted before her horn flared and the door to his cell opened. “My sister has decided to take you under her wing.”\n\n“Yet she sent you to bring me out?” Midnight asked, raising an eyebrow. Celestia gritted her teeth. \n\n“The nobles sent me to bring you out. They don’t like my sister.”\n\nMidnight Runner sighed as his shackles dropped from his hooves and he rubbed them together, wincing as he stroked over the sensitive skin, where the fur had been rubbed away.\n\n“You’ll need to have those looked at,” Celestia murmured, gently taking his hoof in hers and examined the raw skin carefully. Turning, she called for a guard, who stepped forward and regarded Midnight Runner with poorly hidden disgust.\n\n“Shining Armor, carry him to the medical wing.” \n\nHer wing snapped out and stopped Shining Armor. He turned to look at Princess Celestia, who regarded him carefully.\n\n“Mistreat him in any way, and you’ll be taking his place down here. He is to be given the same treatment as if he was royalty, do I make myself clear?” Celestia’s voice was icy cold and Midnight shivered involuntarily and he saw Shining do the same.\n\n“Of course, your Majesty,” Shining replied, trotting over to Midnight and knelt down. Celestia’s magic enveloped the colt and draped him over Shining’s back.\n\n“Inform the nurses that he’s to be kept until his hooves heal. No visitors other than my sister and I…” Celestia hesitated. “And Twilight Sparkle, I suppose. She’s been begging me nonstop to interview him.”\n\nShining turned his head to regard the colt. “She wants to interview him? Why?” he asked. \n\nCelestia arched an eyebrow. “She wants to learn about the south. What better victim to get the information from than one who can’t run away?”\n\nMidnight might have been worried had he not fallen asleep as soon as he had been carried out of the cell.\n\n-\n\nMidnight yawned and stretched as he came awake. He blinked in surprise when he didn’t hear the usual sound of rattling chains and he had a moment of panic when he felt something move against his coat. He sat bolt upright and the sheet covering him fell off. \n\nHe looked around, noting the white walls and ceiling of his room. It had been a few days since he had been taken to the hospital and he still had some trouble getting used to the change.\n\n“Oh good, you’re awake!”\n\nThis time, Midnight let out a yelp and leaped away from the voice, falling out of the bed completely. He bit back a snarl of pain as his tender hooves protested the rought treatment by sending bolts of pain lancing through his legs. He peeked over the edge of the bed at the lavender-colored unicorn who eyed him in concern.\n\n“You alright? That looked like it hurt. The nurses aren’t going to be very happy if you hurt yourself after they went through the trouble of patching your hooves up.”\n\nMidnight looked at his hooves, which were swathed in bandages and he looked around the room again as his heart went back to a steady beat.\n\n“I’m alright…just…still getting used to not waking up chained to a wall,” he murmured, shaking his head and carefully got back into the bed. “Who are you?” he asked, taking a good look at the lavender-coated unicorn.\n\nWho turned out to be an Alicorn, just like Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Tucked against the mares sides were feathered wings. Midnight sighed and rubbed a hoof against his face.\n\n“Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship,” the young Alicorn declared. Midnight dipped his head respectfully.\n\n“And how may I assist you?” he asked as the Alicorn’s eyes lit up. A quill, inkwell and parchment floated up as Twilight opened her mouth. Before she could speak, however, a dark blue wing cut across her vision and she let out a startled squeak as she was gently pushed aside.\n\n“I know you want to pick his brain about where he’s from, but now is not the time for that,” Princess Luna said firmly, ushering Twilight Sparkle out of the room. She closed the door on the protesting mare and locked it, then her horn flared briefly and a glow encased the door. Sighing, the Princess of the Night turned to look at Midnight Runner.\n\n“You’ll have to forgive Twilight, she’s always eager to learn new things. As soon as she heard we had a southerner, she was on the train to Canterlot in minutes,” Luna said, letting her eyes run over Midnight’s body carefully. “You appear much healthier; have they been treating you alright?”\n\nMidnight nodded as he carefully extended his wings, wincing as the muscles protested. “Yeah, a few more days and I’ll be right as rain. I expect,” he said as he folded his wings and laid back on the soft bed. “Been sleeping more than anything.” He said, resting a hoof across his eyes to shield them from the harsh white lights.\n\n“Oh, I’m sorry, would you like me to leave you alone?” Luna asked, stepping back towards the door. Midnight felt an odd twitch in his chest at the thought of her leaving. He looked at the Night Mare as she matched gazes with him.\n\n“You…don’t have to, if you don’t want to,” Midnight said softly, feeling his cheeks heat up. Luna smiled nervously and took a seat beside his bed, her height allowing her to converse with Midnight despite their positions.\n\n“So, Celestia said you wanted to take me under your wing?” he asked her curiously. Luna nodded as she played idly with her hooves. \n\n“I’m not really sure how to explain why,” Luna said hesitantly. “It...when I look at you, I see myself; does that make sense?” she asked. Midnight was silent for a moment before he slowly shook his head.\n\nLuna sighed and rubbed a hoof over her face. “Well, as I’ve said, I’d like to get to know you, where you came from, that sort of thing.”\n\nMidnight nodded slowly and started back from the beginning.\n\n“The south was a place that was swathed in corruption…”\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "Everyone knew there were dungeons below Canterlot palace. Everyone knew there were criminals housed there for one crime or another. What they didn’t know was the identity or history of these criminals. No one knew what they had done to be imprisoned in the heavily guarded dungeons, even the guards were tight-lipped about it.
Princess Luna often visited the prisoners at night, when they were more susceptible to her nightmares and unique interrogation methods. Some would say she even took pleasure in taking her anger out on the prisoners, often falling back into her Nightmare Moon antics, which caused quite a stir when she had emerged from a particular session covered in blood. She had assured her worried sister she was fine and had reverted to the small Alicorn she usually was.
Tonight, she was visiting a newer arrival to the dungeons. This prisoner was proving to be a challenge to break, which irritated Princess Luna. She wasn’t used to failure, but when she had looked into his mind, the darkness she had found there had almost swallowed her whole. A shiver ran over her body at the mere thought of the touch of his thoughts and she steeled herself as she approached the cell where the prisoner was.
He was chained; his forehooves bound and raised while his rear were chained to the floor. There was enough slack to allow him some relaxation; he could lift himself so he balanced on his rear hooves, which allowed his forelegs some degree of respite from their raised position.
He looked up as she approached and an amused smile danced over his muzzle. His coat was a deep gray, making him hard to locate among the shadows of the cell, but his red and white mane and tail stood out easily enough, dirty as they were.
“Hello again, Princess Luna,” he said in his quiet voice, which Luna honestly found rather hypnotic. She wondered who he truly was and where he was really from, but he refused to answer that question with a straight answer and any dreams he may have had of his home were so dark and corrupted they were painful to interact with.
Luna didn’t say anything and simply watched him silently. He matched her gaze and she found his silver orbs almost as hypnotic as his voice. When they had brought him in, they had given him a cursory physical to determine his health. He was a young pegasus stallion, hardly older than Princess Celestia’s protégé, Twilight Sparkle, if not even younger.
“So, going to be a little more talkative this time?” Luna asked, breaking the silence. The dark-coated Pegasus smiled slightly.
“That depends if you ask the right questions, and how I feel at the time you answer them,” he replied, his voice once again flat, giving away nothing. Luna narrowed her eyes and looked at him thoughtfully.
“Well, we might as well start off with the basics,” she said, leaning against the bars of the cell, her eyes never leaving the dark Pegasus. “What is your name?”
“Midnight Runner.”
Luna knew that much, at least, from his dreams. Plus he had introduced himself when they had found him wandering near the southern Equestrian border. What they still didn’t know was why he had been near the border.
“Do you know where you are?” Luna asked.
“Beneath Canterlot’s Royal Palace, in the rarely used dungeons,” he replied, sounding bored.
“Do you know why?” she continued.
“Because apparently you think I’m dangerous,” there was definitely a tone of amusement in his voice.
“Aren’t assassins trained to appear innocent and unthreatening?” Luna countered.
“Fair enough,” Midnight conceded. Luna frowned at his easy submission and fought back an annoyed growl.
“Why were you poking around the southern border?” she asked.
“Because that’s where I had come from,” came the deadpan reply. Luna sighed. That had been his answer every time she had asked.
“Why, though?” she pressed him.
“Because the southern kingdom was getting…” here, he hesitated, as if trying to find the right words. “Corrupt, I guess you could say. Its rulers had started abusing their power to bring their subjects under complete control. They began using the military to put down even small fights.”
Luna again knew that much from other refugees fleeing the south, but it didn’t explain why he had come north and crossed the border. There were several border-crossing stations and refugees had been coming across slowly. Some settled in Princess Celestia’s land, others kept going north or branched out to the east and west borders.
“Why didn’t you cross at a station?” she prodded and she heard him sigh and saw his mane move as if he was shaking his head.
“Because they ask too many questions that I don’t have the answers to.”

Luna felt his eyes bore into her.

“Much like you, actually,” he said, his tone turning musing.
“I only ask them to see if you’re a threat to my sister’s rule,” Luna said curtly and she sensed his amusement.
“Who, me? All I am is a Pegasus trying to start a new life without having everything I do questioned and analyzed,” Midnight said softly, shifting in the chains.
Luna pricked her ears at his words and she tilted her head as she thought about his words.
“Why would they question your work?” she asked carefully.
“Because they thought I was a threat to the peace and stability they had so…carefully constructed,” It was clear from his scathing tone he didn’t think much of those with authority, which Luna had to admit rubbed her the wrong way.
“And what was the nature of your work?” she asked.
“Magic,” he said curtly, which made Luna pause and consider her reply. She opened her mouth, only to close it as she tried to formulate a question for the next round of verbal fencing.
“You’re a Pegasus, why would you research magic?” she asked, which caused him to smile and shake his head.
“Of course you wouldn’t understand,” he replied, stretching as much as he could in the shackles’ embrace. “I’ve always been fascinated by magic,” he looked at her again. “Haven’t you always wondered about why unicorns can use magic while earth ponies can’t? Or how pegasi can fly despite having wings that are too small to provide the necessary lift?”
Luna blinked and was silent for a while before she finally spoke.
“We have teams of unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies working on solving those mysteries, actually.” She said, causing Midnight to perk up and lean forward. “They’ve come to a few rather interesting conclusions about magic among the different pony breeds,” she smiled at him and he sighed. “Unfortunately, I can’t share the results with prisoners,” she said sweetly and he dropped his gaze.
Luna frowned as he seemed to lose interest in her and she wondered if she’d be able to draw him back out.
“Tell me, Princess, why do you only come by at night to ask questions?” he asked, surprising her by starting off with a question.
“I don’t have to answer your questions,” she replied, letting a hint of frost coat her words and he looked at her with a raised brow.
“Either you’re hiding something or you don’t know the answer yourself.” he said, making her tense up. Luna fought back the strange wave of anger that threatened to break over her and she regarded him coolly.
“Unlike you, I am not the one at fault here,” she replied with an amused smile and Midnight laughed.
“That’s a good one, I’ll have to remember it.” He relaxed in his chains and looked at her with amusement in his silvery eyes.
“Of course you’re at fault here. All I want is a new life away from scrutiny, and yet here I am, being scrutinized by the Princess of the Night herself, about a topic she has under control already,” Midnight said, causing Luna’s eyes to flash.
She flung open the cell door and she loomed over the bound Pegasus. He matched her stare and she hesitated.
“So, what should I do with you then?” she replied, her face inches from his own. He gazed at her for a moment and tilted his head.
“The easy solution would be letting me go, but I can tell you want to keep me close so you can keep an eye on me and report any odd behavior to your sister,” he said, not at all disturbed at the proximity of the volatile princess.
Luna backed off a step and gazed down at him, her expression thoughtful.
“What you say is true,” she admitted. “Perhaps my sister will allow me to keep you as a…” her voice trailed off as she sought a suitable word.
“A pet, perhaps?” Midnight offered. Luna snorted in amusement, but she didn’t dismiss the idea.
“More like a…pet project, I guess,” she finally said. Her horn flashed and she gripped Midnight in her magic, pulling him close to her. “Hopefully you’ll last longer than my other projects. I feel like there’s a lot I can learn from you,” Her voice was a low purr and Midnight saw a flicker of something in her eyes that suggested her teaching methods were far from gentle.
“Sounds interesting,” He said.
Luna wondered which of them would break first.

-

If there was one thing Midnight Runner hated the most about underground dungeons, it was a lack of light.

No windows. No torches. No light. The dungeons were designed to dull the sense of time passing. Midnight had no idea how long he had been here. Maybe it had been days, maybe it had been weeks.

Even the meals were given at seemingly random times. Sometimes he went hungry for a long time, and then was fed one or two meals in quick succession. The food was delivered magically to him. The only way he even had an idea of where it was located was by the smell.

Midnight pricked his ears as he heard the sound of hooves headed his way. He waited patiently, eyes closed as they grew louder. Finally, they stopped and he cracked open his eyes.

A pony stood in front of his cage, their horn glowing faintly, not bright enough to hurt his light-deprived eyes.

He found himself gazing upwards at a very large, yet slim, Alicorn. He let his eyes wander over her pearly white coat, her golden-shod hooves and her golden regalia before he met her gaze.

“Princess Celestia,” he murmured. “What an honor it is to meet you. Forgive me if I don’t bow,” he added, somewhat sarcastically as he jangled his shackles, causing the Princess to wince at the noise.

“I apologize for the treatment,” she said, sighing as she glanced around the dark dungeons. “I honestly wish we didn’t have to use these, but the nobles demanded them.”

Midnight smiled thinly. “Ah, yes, the nobles; the real power in Canterlot. Didn’t you spend a millennia stripping them of their power over the common pony, to bring about an era of peace and prosperity under your kind and just rule?”

Celestia didn’t meet his eyes and she shook her head. “They’ve made it difficult. Their laws are getting harder and harder to decipher. Most of them are designed to restore power to them. Lately, I’ve taken to denying their requests, especially ones that allow them to keep armed ponies in their employ.”

“Preventing them from raising up an army against you,” Midnight murmured. “Heh…clever bastards.” He looked at the Princess of the Sun and tilted his head. “But that’s not why you’re really here, is it?” he asked.

Celestia bit her lip as she regarded the dark-colored pegasus. “No, it’s not,” she admitted before her horn flared and the door to his cell opened. “My sister has decided to take you under her wing.”

“Yet she sent you to bring me out?” Midnight asked, raising an eyebrow. Celestia gritted her teeth.

“The nobles sent me to bring you out. They don’t like my sister.”

Midnight Runner sighed as his shackles dropped from his hooves and he rubbed them together, wincing as he stroked over the sensitive skin, where the fur had been rubbed away.

“You’ll need to have those looked at,” Celestia murmured, gently taking his hoof in hers and examined the raw skin carefully. Turning, she called for a guard, who stepped forward and regarded Midnight Runner with poorly hidden disgust.

“Shining Armor, carry him to the medical wing.”

Her wing snapped out and stopped Shining Armor. He turned to look at Princess Celestia, who regarded him carefully.

“Mistreat him in any way, and you’ll be taking his place down here. He is to be given the same treatment as if he was royalty, do I make myself clear?” Celestia’s voice was icy cold and Midnight shivered involuntarily and he saw Shining do the same.

“Of course, your Majesty,” Shining replied, trotting over to Midnight and knelt down. Celestia’s magic enveloped the colt and draped him over Shining’s back.

“Inform the nurses that he’s to be kept until his hooves heal. No visitors other than my sister and I…” Celestia hesitated. “And Twilight Sparkle, I suppose. She’s been begging me nonstop to interview him.”

Shining turned his head to regard the colt. “She wants to interview him? Why?” he asked.

Celestia arched an eyebrow. “She wants to learn about the south. What better victim to get the information from than one who can’t run away?”

Midnight might have been worried had he not fallen asleep as soon as he had been carried out of the cell.

-

Midnight yawned and stretched as he came awake. He blinked in surprise when he didn’t hear the usual sound of rattling chains and he had a moment of panic when he felt something move against his coat. He sat bolt upright and the sheet covering him fell off.

He looked around, noting the white walls and ceiling of his room. It had been a few days since he had been taken to the hospital and he still had some trouble getting used to the change.

“Oh good, you’re awake!”

This time, Midnight let out a yelp and leaped away from the voice, falling out of the bed completely. He bit back a snarl of pain as his tender hooves protested the rought treatment by sending bolts of pain lancing through his legs. He peeked over the edge of the bed at the lavender-colored unicorn who eyed him in concern.

“You alright? That looked like it hurt. The nurses aren’t going to be very happy if you hurt yourself after they went through the trouble of patching your hooves up.”

Midnight looked at his hooves, which were swathed in bandages and he looked around the room again as his heart went back to a steady beat.

“I’m alright…just…still getting used to not waking up chained to a wall,” he murmured, shaking his head and carefully got back into the bed. “Who are you?” he asked, taking a good look at the lavender-coated unicorn.

Who turned out to be an Alicorn, just like Princess Luna and Princess Celestia. Tucked against the mares sides were feathered wings. Midnight sighed and rubbed a hoof against his face.

“Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship,” the young Alicorn declared. Midnight dipped his head respectfully.

“And how may I assist you?” he asked as the Alicorn’s eyes lit up. A quill, inkwell and parchment floated up as Twilight opened her mouth. Before she could speak, however, a dark blue wing cut across her vision and she let out a startled squeak as she was gently pushed aside.

“I know you want to pick his brain about where he’s from, but now is not the time for that,” Princess Luna said firmly, ushering Twilight Sparkle out of the room. She closed the door on the protesting mare and locked it, then her horn flared briefly and a glow encased the door. Sighing, the Princess of the Night turned to look at Midnight Runner.

“You’ll have to forgive Twilight, she’s always eager to learn new things. As soon as she heard we had a southerner, she was on the train to Canterlot in minutes,” Luna said, letting her eyes run over Midnight’s body carefully. “You appear much healthier; have they been treating you alright?”

Midnight nodded as he carefully extended his wings, wincing as the muscles protested. “Yeah, a few more days and I’ll be right as rain. I expect,” he said as he folded his wings and laid back on the soft bed. “Been sleeping more than anything.” He said, resting a hoof across his eyes to shield them from the harsh white lights.

“Oh, I’m sorry, would you like me to leave you alone?” Luna asked, stepping back towards the door. Midnight felt an odd twitch in his chest at the thought of her leaving. He looked at the Night Mare as she matched gazes with him.

“You…don’t have to, if you don’t want to,” Midnight said softly, feeling his cheeks heat up. Luna smiled nervously and took a seat beside his bed, her height allowing her to converse with Midnight despite their positions.

“So, Celestia said you wanted to take me under your wing?” he asked her curiously. Luna nodded as she played idly with her hooves.

“I’m not really sure how to explain why,” Luna said hesitantly. “It...when I look at you, I see myself; does that make sense?” she asked. Midnight was silent for a moment before he slowly shook his head.

Luna sighed and rubbed a hoof over her face. “Well, as I’ve said, I’d like to get to know you, where you came from, that sort of thing.”

Midnight nodded slowly and started back from the beginning.

“The south was a place that was swathed in corruption…”
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