• Published 12th Jan 2012
  • 4,924 Views, 93 Comments

Tales from the Staff Canteen - Midnightshadow



Behind the scenes at Equestria Daily, where all is professional and above board...

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Nightshift - by Alexstrazsa

Afternoon sunlight crept into his room, unwantingly casting it’s bright rays onto the light purple stallion’s face. With a light sigh, he opened his eyes. Blurry, as usual, until his horn lit up and his nearby glasses floated onto his face. Blinking a few times and getting his bearings, he crawled out of bed and wearily stood up. Glancing at the clock, he caught the time - 2:47 PM. It was normal time for him, as he usually worked late into the night and regularly passed out around four or five in the morning. He leisurely left the room, not bothering to brush his shaggy mane.

He soon arrived at the office. It wasn’t a bad job, not at all. It was situated in a great place in Canterlot with an amazing view, it paid enough to make a living, and the co-workers were great. The only problem were the employers - the two solar sisters, none other than Celestia and Luna. It wasn’t that they were overly demanding or rude, it was just that their tempers could get a little out of hoof. Midnight being sent to the moon was almost a daily occurrence, and more than one unusual punishment was regularly handed out. Still, it was a pretty good place to be.

The pony’s ears perked up as he opened the office door, as he heard the sound of Luna scolding somebody. As it turned out, it was Midnight. A worried look, a flash of the horn, and poof - Midnight had another first class ticket to the moon. All in a day’s schedule.

“Well, look who decided to show up.” Luna said, turning her gaze to Alex.

“Good afternoon, Princess.” He replied, ignoring the princesses sarcasm.

“You are aware of the time, correct?”

“Of course. You know I work early into the morning.”

Her spiteful look did nothing to change his cheerful mood. “Just be thankful Celestia delegates your work hours, and allows you to arrive as you please.” With this, she walked past him and down a corridor. Another crisis averted, at least for today.

Nodding to the security guard, he made his way to the nearby elevator and looked over the only four buttons it had - office, basement, roof, and the illuminated lobby. The backstory behind this was that Celestia thought it would be amusing for the elevator to choose and office floor at random. It tended to be frustrating, aggravating, infuriating - and part of the every day schedule. Hitting the office button, Alex casually walked into the elevator and listened calmly to the music. Today, it was polka.

With a light ding, the elevator opened. “Let’s see here... Ah, administrative offices. I just need to go down one floor today.” He smiled and walked out, immediately heading towards the stairs. Glancing over to the nearest door, he saw the gold nameplate that read “Phoe”, then noticed the multitude of locks on the door. She’s certainly a pony who enjoyed her privacy, Alex thought, counting the number of keyholes. Seven in total. He shrugged and moved down the stairs. Hearing the commotion from this floor, he knew he was in the right place.

As usual, the regular office was in a fit of unorganization and chaos. For whatever reason, Cereal was on the floor, fast food containers overflowed from the garbage cans, Present was pounding at his keyboard, and in the corner, Daffodil and Nines were locked in a shouting match.

“Hey Alex!” Siraj called, peeking through her open door.

“Afternoon, Siraj. Looks like everything is running smoothly, isn’t it?” he asked, looking around at the chaos. He noticed Daffodil and Nines simply glaring at each other now, teeth bared and eyes filled with fire.

“Sure is!” the tan unicorn happily replied, sinking back behind her computer monitor. Nodding to nopony in particular, Alex walked to his own office, a simple area with a common desk and computer. In the corner was a pile of mechanical equipment that looked abandoned and terribly old. With a happy sigh, he sat into the chair with enough force to spin around, and booting up his computer with a burst of magic, began his day.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”