Night Audit let out a sigh. He had sent the night porters to search the towers, and the few overnight cleaning staff to check the east and west wings. He finally had a moment to relax, and allowed himself to slump against the wall. He levitated his pocket watch from his vest and glanced at it.
Three in the morning. Her Highness and I would be playing Thud right about now.
Neither of them were sure where the strange board game had come from, but the nightly matches had become the high point of the long evenings after the petitioners had been seen, the princess had done her nightly rounds of the dreams of her subjects, and the two of them had little to do until dawn.
In terms of skill, Night Audit figured he and the princess were evenly matched, since they had started playing at the same time. At last count, he was ahead in total victories by three games, although he was sure that Luna had some long term strategy in mind to reverse that. It was one of the high points of his job and he was mildly irritated that the moose had upset the usual routine.
He snorted and stood up straight, straightening his vest. Time (and moose, apparently) waited for no pony. Less than three hours until dawn, with no guarantee the ambassador wouldn't show up unexpectedly early. He let out another sigh and turned to head for the west tower.
“Night Audit?”
The clerk's eyes snapped open fully and he quickly plastered a smile on his face as he turned to face Princess Celestia, who had just appeared at the top of the stairs leading down to the lower levels of the palace.
“Your Highness,” he said, the smile not moving a bit. “Good evening.”
“Good evening,” Celestia said as she walked down the hallway towards him. “How are you?”
“I'm doing well, than you for asking, Your Highness.”
Celestia nodded. “And how are things at Night Court?”
Night Audit felt the smile tighten. “Everything's fine, Your Highness. Nothing unusual to report.”
Celestia quirked an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Absolutely, Your Highness.”
Celestia's mouth curled up at one side. “Then why are you up here, and my sister is down in the kitchens? Don't you two play Thud around this time?”
Night Audit felt his lower left eyelid begin to twitch, and he was sure some of his teeth were beginning to crack under the strain of how tightly his jaw suddenly clenched. “Yes. Yes, Your Highness! We do! But, um, she's getting snacks! Yes, snacks. For the game. We needed snacks.”
“Snacks?” Celestia asked, confusion evident on her face.
“Snacks!” Night Audit affirmed, a little too loudly. “We wanted snacks and your sister volunteered to go get them.”
Celestia's eyebrow quirked again. “Why didn't she just call for one of the night porters, then?”
Night Audit let out a noise through his teeth somewhere between a laugh and a groan. “Well.. I... um... we couldn't find one! And since I am technically the head of the night staff, Princess Luna felt that it would be best if I went to find out what was going on and she graciously volunteered to get the snacks in the meantime.”
Celestia opened her mouth to reply, when a voice echoed down the hallway from behind the princess.
“Mr. Night Audit!”
Night Audit craned his neck to see one of the night porters frantically waving a foreleg to get his attention. The clerk's mind raced and quickly seized the opportunity for escape.
“Ah! There's one now. If you'll excuse me, Your Highness, I need to deal with this post haste. Have a pleasant evening. You there! Don't move!”
Night Audit rushed past the princess, wrapped a foreleg around the night porter's withers and half-walked and half-dragged the surprised pony around the corner. Celestia blinked as the clerk and the porter disappeared, then a smile crossed her lips. She shook her head in amusement and continued on her way to her chambers.
---
“Now, you listen to me,” Night Audit said to the porter, his voice low. “We have only a few hours to find that moose and get it to the gardens, without, I might add, letting Princess Celestia know that said moose is running amok in the castle and causing untold embarrassment to Princess Luna. This means, above all else, not drawing attention to the fact that we are looking for the moose when Celestia is present! Clear?”
“Yes, sir,” the porter gulped. Night Audit saw the terror in her eyes and turned down the intensity.
“Right,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Now, what did you need?”
“I found the moose,” the porter said. Night Audit's eyes widened.
“Where?”
“That's the thing, Mr. Night Audit,” she said, “It's in the library!”
Night Audit felt the blood rush from his face. “Go to the grounds, find Star Cluster and tell her to meet me in the library immediately. And if you see either of the princesses, for Faust's sake, don't tell them!”
“Yes, sir!” The night porter dashed off down the hall. Night Audit checked his watch again and cursed under his breath before heading down the hall in the other direction towards the library.
My sister was right, I should have stuck with accounting.