Conspiracies (Part I)

Canterlot on lockdown was in its own way a sort of prison; nothing came nor left without explicit permission from an officer of the royal guard or the princess, which under the circumstances of even a single murder let alone several murders, such permission was hard if not impossible to come by.

Night Light left the previous crime scene apartment unharassed,  and went straight to Ruby Gemstone’s, a distant relative of Princess Celestia and an old friend of Twilight's, house. Fairly homely for royalty, the home had only two stories and looked more like a large apartment than a small home. As Shining Armor’s only free parent, Night had the responsibility of checking up on him and making sure that he was still safely at his sitter's house.

Ruby often babysat him along with other foals, and though Shining could not yet walk, he tended to be on his best behavior, for a unicorn colt, whenever away from home. Or so Night had been told, as rarely had Night even seen Shining’s ordinary behavior let alone his unruly behavior. Considering all of this, she seemed the most likely to have taken Shining in when Twilight was arrested.

The front door had a large heart painted onto it, and on either side of it were two day guard members. No doubt noticing Night Light coming from a mile away, they waited until he was about to knock onto the door before actually blocking his path with outstretched wings. As annoying a gesture as it was to have one’s hoof cut off at the door, it did at least speak that not all was abnormal in town.

“Name, rank, and reason for visit?” the one on the left looked Night Light up and down while the right raised a brow, as all of that should have already been provided before attempted entry.

“Night Light, Corporal, and I am here to check up on my son, Shining Armor.” Night Light raised a hoof to knock, but the outstretched wings did not move.

“Son huh? I don’t think Ruby was expecting any stallions to be checking in on foals until the end of the lockdown,” the guard on the right stated, “Do you have any proof?”

“Proof that I am here to see my son, or that I have a son?” Night Light retracted his hoof, slightly stomping the ground in irritation. “Either way, what would count as proof under these circumstances?”

“Oh do not mind him darling, Raze is just giving you a hard time.” It seemed at first that the door itself had spoken until shortly after these slightly muffled words were spoken, the door swung outward; this forced the guards to retract their wings from the path, a bright red unicorn mare in a robe revealed by the opening of the door, mane in what looked to be a half-curled, half-straightened condition.

“Princess, you are aware that we are on lockdown for a reason, right?” Razer gruffly stated, “I do not think that this is the time for visitors of his sort.”

Night Light stepped forward to the guard, meeting him eye to eye. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Did I stutter Corporal?” Razer did not back down, but rather stepped forward, now nearly nose to nose with Night Light. “This is a bad time for combat trained, lethal ponies of questionable integrity to be near any very important unicorns. I suggest you get with the program.”

A standoff seemed imminent, but Ruby gently pushed the two apart with her magic. “I will be fine Razer, do not worry. If it makes you feel better, I will put a suppressor on him.”

Night Light would have protested, but Ruby had already brandished seemingly from thin air the cone shaped suppressor, levitating it above his head. Razer let slip a small grin before returning to a stoic expression. His partner had never lost said expression on his face, but his more relaxed posture suggested that he was somewhat relieved at the suggestion.

The moment the cone shaped suppressor fit snugly over his horn, Night Light felt an intimate discord with himself, his ability to perform magic stunted to the point of nearly knocking him out cold. He swooned, but managed to stay on his hooves.

Ruby smiled and jokingly offered a hoof. “Will you make it to the colt’s room?”

Night shook his head and nodded. “Yes, I can make it."

“Excellent.” Ruby turned to walk further in. Night started to follow behind when he caught a sideaways glance from Razer. Though he outwardly ignored it and walked into the living room, he mentally kept a note of the obvious hostility that the royal guard member had shown towards his fellow. Apparently, he was not among the trusted; Redcoat would have had him believe otherwise, at least among the day guard.

Ruby’s living room was devoid of glass beyond the windows; no vases, no glass tables, no porcelain, not even a glass bottle with a ship in it. It had a carpet, a square table, and seat cushions neatly organized in a diamond shape around the table. The sound of giggling and laughter directed Night Light past the living room towards the wooden stairs, where a night guard member blocked the way now. Ruby was nowhere to be seen, so either she had vanished into thin air or she had swiftly moved elsewhere, apparently expecting him to find his own way to Shining Armor’s room.

Unlike the guard outside, the night guard did not wait to be pressed. Recognizing him a few seconds, the guard looked Night Light up and down. “Night Light is it? Shining Armor is the third to last room on the right. Go straight there.”

The mare stepped aside, much to Night Light’s bemusement. What was going to happen if he didn’t go straight there? As tempted as he was to test the waters, Night Light trotted up the stairs, turned to his right, and marched past the room of giggling fillies to a barely cracked door. The hallway had been hardly lit, so the gentle green glow from the room seemed reassuring. Pushing the room door more open, Night looked about the glow in the dark sticker star covered room to find a lonely crib in the center of the room, with a locked window and a changing station a few feet from the crib.

It looked an odd setup, even for an eccentric royal. Shouldn’t there at least be a mirror somewhere in this mixup? A flabed? A rocking chair maybe?

Trotting up to the crib, Night peered inside, breath held, not entirely knowing what he expected to see inside the crib. After all, it had been some time since he had last seen Shining Armor, and he could only wonder how large he had gotten.

The white coated colt in the crib was wide awake, staring right back at Night Light with eyes like tiny blue gemstones.

Releasing his exhaled breath to the side of the crib, Night smiled as Shining Armor blinked back at him.  “And to think, I almost went home that night.”

Without thinking he attempted to levitate Shining, only to have a searing surge of negative feedback cause him to recoil and reel back, rubbing at his head. He withheld a curse, surprisingly enough, and walked back towards Shining.

“Bie bie!? The colt giggled in delight at Night’s expense. Rubbing at his horn now, Night replied, “Well, you are already turning up to be quite the rude little colt. Don’t worry, your mother will be informed.”  Night smiled teasingly before giving the crib a gentle rock.

Now a grown mare’s laugh echoed through the room. Night turned around to face the doorway, where Ruby had silently been observing the brief interaction.

“If anything he would rather have his mother; she only just weaned the poor thing before all this mess.” Ruby walked into the room, a few green stains now on her robe, “Hopefully this lockdown will not go on for much longer. Babysitting is a passion, it really is, but I can’t leave the house at all with all my charges still here.”

“How many charges do you have?” Night inquired, watching Ruby levitate Shining Armor into the air.

“Six fillies, I am sure you heard three of them on your way here, and two colts, all with schedules as varied as their parents.” Ruby used the light of her horn to look Shining Armor over, bringing him close to her face for full scrutiny. Shining giggled and flailed his hooves wildly; Ruby’s hold did not falter, only encouraging the colt to struggle some more.

“Hold still Shining.” Ruby ordered as if she were speaking to one of her royal guards. With a sniff, Ruby seemed lost in thought for a moment before sighing. “Another thirty minutes and I bet he will stink to Celestia’s sun. But for now, he is good.”

Night Light had been looking around the room in the meantime, noticing that there did not seem to be a central light for this room. The glow in the dark stars were the only sources of light. “Is there some reason Shining Armor not only has his own room, but a room with hardly any lighting?”

Ruby set Shining back in the crib and turned towards Night with a confused look on her face. “Twilight requested this.  Did you bother asking her anything before coming here?”

“No need to get all defensive.” Night walked to the other side of the crib, noticing Shining’s gaze going back and forth between him and Ruby. “No, I did not ask her before coming here. She is a bit occupied at the moment in case you were unaware.”

“I see.” Ruby did not seem truly satisfied with the answer, but accepted it nonetheless. She turned back towards the door, her head bowed. “So it is all true.”

Night tilted his head. Either Shining Armor was not the only one with shit in the future. “What is-“

“Twilight was in such a hurry, and those guards.” Ruby turned back around with a frown on her face, ears folded against her head. “Did she really kill those unicorns?”

“Of course not!”

“Then how is she involved?”

Night wished he could say definitively that she was not involved at all, but that was not quite the truth. He didn’t know whether or not she had told the whole story; he felt, he hoped that she had, but he had no way of verifying things one way or the other. Besides, he had come here to check on Shining Armor, not gossip about the current status of his fiancé.

Then again, he was in desperate need for information about her in order to help get her name cleared. Maybe a little gossip was just what he needed to get started.

“Listen Ruby, I know you know Twilight. Does this really sound like her?”

Ruby did not respond, but instead turned around and left the room. Night followed after, seeing her turn the corner and head downstairs. Night noticed that the night guard member was no longer guarding the base of the stairs, and that Ruby had taken to pacing the living room floor.

“Does that sound like her?” Night figured he knew Twilight better than any other stallion, but there were certain things spouses-to-be do no discuss, one of them being histories better left confined to the shelves.

Ruby turned back around to Night, horn aglow in a bright light and face downcast. She took a seat, and gestured that Night take a seat to the opposite of her on the table. Night joined, taking an eye on the horn light, which soon took on the static of a radio, until settling in on a quiet channel. She apparently intended on playing back some past conversation.

The channel remained quiet for a little while longer until a voice cut clear through.

“Listen Ruby, I know how this sounds, but I need you to care for Shining Armor for a few days, two weeks tops.” The voice clearly belonged to Twilight, but Velvet seemed to lack the urgency and alarm that Night would have expected. Then again, this was from Ruby's point of view that he was hearing this, so it was fairly possible she just didn't pick up on it.

“What?” Ruby predictably sounded alarmed, “What do you mean darling? What spurs this request?”

Twilight did not immediately respond, the sound of teacups rattling and bodies shuffling filling in for a few minutes. When that came to a stop, Twilight answered, “Soon I will be in some serious trouble, and I am not sure when Night Light is going to be returning home; in the meantime, I need someone to watch Shining Armor until everything blows over.”

“Twilight, whatever is, I am sure I can get Celestia to look into it-“

“No!”

Night took a step back, as if Twilight had shouted at him rather than Ruby in the conversation.

“I do not mind you telling Night Light should I not get the chance, but please do not get Celestia involved here. It will only make things worse.”

“But, how?”

“Will you take Shining Armor for me Ruby? Please, you are the only pony I have left to trust with this. I would ask Sir Pounce, but considering his fidelity issues-“

“Well to be fair-" Bzza, an unexpected skip in the recording interrupted Night's listening experience. He blinked, realizing that Ruby was apparently fast forwarding the recording.

Night Light narrowed his eyes at Ruby. “What is that I am missing?”

“Irrelevant information,” Ruby firmly stated, not missing a heartbeat as she scrunched up her face from her exertions.

She fast forwarded for a good two minutes before stopping, picking back up at her own response. “- Well, I will do my best. Security around here is around the clock after all. Is there anything else I might can help you with while you sort this out?”

“Make sure Shining Armor is in his own room, dimly lit; keep him away from any of the fillies and colts for now. I only just weened him, and some of the younger ones might tempt him back to milk. And you know what a colt crying for his mother’s milk sounds like.”

“May Celestia never allow Blueblood to taste mare’s milk again. He is such a darling, but he drinks like a full grown stallion. I thought his appetite would never be sated.”

Night chuckled at this, not because he had experienced anything of the sort, but at the idea that, despite speaking very seriously the whole time, Twilight had likely purposely mentioned Sir Pounce and colt milk drinking in order to keep Ruby at ease with accepting the request. Twilight had done a similar thing in order to convince her father that Shining Armor had been a result of her own fallacies rather than Night pressing her into intercourse.

The way Night remembered it, that was not far from the truth, albeit, he started with a kiss. From then till he had fallen asleep exhausted and spent, he was on his back. Not that he could or would complain; Twilight was a good reigns masters.

“Well, just take care of yourself Velvet. And should you share a cell with some ruffian, make sure he or she behaves in your presence.”

“Ha, thanks Ruby.”

More body shifting, and then an abrupt cut-off. Ruby shook her head and rubbed it some before giving a small smile. “As you heard, I was skeptical that anything was going on, but when you showed up, yourself hesitant, it just seemed to confirm things.”

“Thanks for letting me know.” Night would have preferred to have started with this discussion than with the Shining Armor icebreaker, but information was information. Twilight did have something to do with what was going on, but if Redcoat was to be believed in his entirety, then her involvement may have been less criminal and more circumstantial. That was good news, not something to be concerned about.

“I have to admit, I would have expected you to divulge that to me in greater privacy to be honest,” Night commented, looking about again for that night guard from earlier “here in your living room, while not the open air, is not particularly secure.”

“Well, I have to admit, I shared my concerns with Celestia,” Ruby admitted her smile turning sheepish, “I suspect that is why she was apprehended so quickly.”

“You played that entire thing to her?”

“Only as much as I played to you. Night Light, you have to understand, when I realized how serious this was-“

“Twilight trusted you with this and you went ahead and told Celestia anyways?”

Night slammed a hoof to the table in anger. How could Ruby betray Twilight like that? Ruby wrinkled her nose and frowned in response to Night's aggression.

“Night Light, there are dozens of ponies affected by this, nevermind the twenty that are dead. Neither she nor you can nor should have expected me to keep mum when the severity of the situation came to light. Canterlot is on lockdown right now in an attempt to confine and catch the criminals responsible. If Twilight has any information regarding the villains, she has a moral, no a legal obligation to divulge said information. If she wanted to keep everything truly hush, she would have asked Sir Pounce.”

“Lady Geneve is a jealous mare, first of all. Twilight, a mare, asking anything of him in private would have unnecessary roused his household matters. Add on to that, she can’t even trust Sir Pounce. Furthermore, from what I gathered, had she not told you as many details as she had, you might would have refused to take on Shining Armor.”

Ruby did not reply, prompting Night Light to conclude unchallenged.

“Last but not least, you and Twilight have known each other for as long as Twilight cares to remember; even I was in the dark that she expected something bad to happen, but you got what, a week’s notice?”

“A day’s warning,” Ruby corrected, “And you realize that every letter you send to each other is inspected right? Wherever you were, anything she would have told to you surely would have been read, leading to the premature arrest of a mare innocent of shedding blood. And poor Shining would have been left completely on his own since Twilight would not have had the time to speak with me thoroughly on this.”

Night sighed and turned his gaze towards the floor. She made a most uncomfortable point; had Twilight been apprehended any sooner, Shining would have left at best in the care of the authorities who arrested her; at worst they would have put him in adoptive care until Night’s return, which may have been facilitated by Twilight indirectly tipping Celestia off to trouble.

“Well, I do have one question for you, Night Light.”

Night looked up to see Ruby standing in front of him.

“Do you have any troubles from your bygone days that may haunt you? You know what they say about birds of a feather.”

“No.” Night internally scolded himself for responding as swiftly as he did. However, he had already made his stance. “Five years ago I may have had some problem companions, but what happen in Las Pegasus, stays in Las Pegasus. Or so the saying goes.”

“I hope you are right Night Light, because the last thing Shining Armor needs is for you to leave town again.”

There was no guarantee of him staying, especially with a new assignment on the horizon. Of course, he could not tell Ruby that, what with Celestia’s oath and all possibly applying there. “Well, I am still in the royal guard. I have to ask though, what makes Twilight suspect that Sir Pounce is unfaithful?”

Ruby giggled, taking to the sudden change in topic. “Oh that is just mare talk, that’s why I skipped over it. Nothing you need to be worried about.”

More like nothing she intended on divulging, Night Light reasoned. As intriguing as that was, it was nothing that he was going to pry into; a long as Twilight was not involved in that he had no reason to go digging that trench, no doubt rooted with numerous grapevine plants.