> Deceitful Royalty
>  by Thunderblast
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> New Dawn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The moment was tense. So, very tense. A pair of golden eyes fixated narrowly onto the blackened figure while he stood statue-still, waiting for his next move that could cost him. The stallion donning just the main piece of night-blue and purple armor had been prepared for everything tossed his way throughout his career, plus a little more, but nothing could have prepared him for this.

Fifteen minutes passing without breaking a sweat soon changed when a lone bead developed near the pegasus' temple as he contemplated the possible outcome of his opponent’s next move. It left an uneasy feeling in his gut, one that he masked effortlessly with much practice from becoming a proud member of Princess Luna’s guard—a respected, high-ranking member, to boot, for nearly five years now.

His steady gaze lifted to the unicorn opposite of him, smugly sipping a strawberry-banana smoothie through a colorful curly straw, the glass itself floating above the table within a golden aura. A look of confidence held strong as the pegasus returned a hardened glare, returning his focus downward to the floridly-placed black-and-white chess figurines. Well, what remained of the black ones, that is.

He examined his options, calculating them meticulously. He makes one wrong move, and that would be the end of it. His chances of winning with just two left against all of the unicorn’s unbeaten army dwindled. Accepting loss was not something he could easily settle with. Though, in this instance, perhaps it would be best to...

Sliding his pawn forward and to the left, he drew back his hoof and cupped them before his muzzle, reshifting his attention to the golden armor-clad stallion seated opposite of him, whose eyes darted about between pieces in a muse. 

The lower of one of his own ignited in mystical gold sparkles and beginning to levitate, only to dissipate two seconds after and drop to the board without falling over. Magic took hold of another figurine and slid directly into its black-painted opposition, knocking it over, followed by the one adjacent to it.

Grinning victoriously, the grey unicorn glanced up to the pegasus, declaring one word to finish it off. “Checkmate.”

Smacking both hooves on the tabletop in defeat, the impact in turn shaking the board and knocking over each of the figurines once standing, Night Shadow shouted, “Darn it!”

Chuckles and clapping of hooves beside him and Sharpblade erupted as some other guards—City and a couple of off-duty Lunar—observed the two on their lunch breaks. One held out his hoof with a smirk, while another pouted and handed over a small pouch of bits and grumbling incoherently.

Raising his head, as well as an eyebrow in curiosity, he placed his hooves on the edge of the table before him. Night questioned, “Since when were you a skilled chess player?”

Another aura carefully raised the fruity beverage up to his lips for another slurp, before Sharp responded. “As long as you have been a captain, Night. Maybe longer,” he replied with a shrug, a nicker, and a grin that failed to falter. "All of these years we have known each other, and this you only just recently discover."

Now propping his head up with a hoof, elbow on the table, Night threw back a smirk. "You never quite vocalized it enough—or at all—for me to guess. Though, I suppose it would serve as a perfect explanation as to why you have a chess piece keychain on your house keys."

Snorting, Sharp slapped his smoothie glass onto the table, his grin turned upside down into more of a grimace. He struck a look equal to that of an offended one, as if he had been personally insulted. "I'll have you know that the knight fits just perfectly to my job!"

"Whatever you say, First Sergeant!" Night motioned his hooves in quotation. "Tell me, how does it feel?"

"How does what feel?" Sharp retorted grumpily.

"To be promoted one step at a time."

"Feels just great!" Sharp crossed his hooves, turning his nose up and looking off to the side, eyes closed. After a moment, he opened one to look at Night, inquisitive to what he was now poking at with such a question. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I never had the opportunity to experience it. During your time six feet under, I went from a private straight to captain! No, excuse me, captain in the Zodiacs! Tell me, how on earth does that make sense?" Night queried jestfully.

"I suppose, to the princesses, you were just that meritable?" suggested Sharp.

Night eased back into his chair to relax. "Nah, it's all because of what went down a few years back. Before I discovered you were alive," he grit his teeth at the end for emphasis.

The unicorn threw up his hooves. "In my defense, I was under a mind control spell! I had no clue what was going on until, well... what ever it was you did to break my trance."

"It was Luna who snapped you out of it, but, I'll let you slide for that one," Night gave another smirk, baring one fang out the side. "On that subject... did you ever tell me what they used to revive you?"

Sharp blinked, shaking his head as he took a brief sip of his beverage. "Had to have been after I was buried, but, no. They never told me how the process was done. High-powered necromancy magic is my best assumption, or something of that matter. Probably stuff kept in the archives."

"Fair enough." Night shrugged. "Not important now, and hopefully not ever in the foreseeable future."

"I concur," Sharp replied, beginning to slurp as he finished off the last of his smoothie through a fancy little straw provided by the cafe they were seated outside of. He lifted a hoof to his muzzle to politely quell a burp.

Above the square, the minute hand on the striking clock atop a nearby spire-topped tower ticked into a new position. Its enormous hidden bell rang aloud twice for blocks around. Ears of each guard gathered for lunch swiveled, some hopping down from the ledge they sat on.

"Ah, break is over." Night declared between them, sliding out his chair with a loud metallic grind of the wrought-iron legs scraping on cobble.

Following suit, Sharp tossed a grin in the lunar captain's direction, snatching his helmet off of the ground beside the chair and holding it beside his chest. "Same time next week?"

"We'll see. I will have to find somepony to train me the way of the game," Night countered with a crafty smirk.

The stone-coated unicorn huffed, his nose scrunching up slightly. "That's cheating."

"Oh ho, but it's fine when you do it? I see how it is," the pegasus' smirk widened. The two exchanged a chest bump with a clank of their armors.

"See you then, brother," Sharp responded, giving a head gesture to his fellow guards who joined a slight formation behind him.

"Likewise," Night nodded once, a warm smile curving his lips as he soon himself started towards home.

In his case, the Canterlot Palace was home.


⚔


Each armored stallion or mare he would pass in the castle's intricate system of corridors and infamous halls returned his silent greeting: a nod, or go as far as saluting if without previously recognizing the captain's reserved nature. 

Although he faced his job as solemnly as the next pony, Night eventually became acknowledged around the Guard for his way of formality. Even seven years since making the respected rank rather unexpectedly, while some looked down upon it—specifically his fellow eminent officers—with others admiring from a different perspective outside of his command, he insisted on enforcing friendship over protocol within his unit, as learned from years prior of serving in Princess Luna's presence.

As such, respect and uniformity remained traditional. Those were traits Night was not looking forward nor proposing to reshape in his Zodiacs. Alas, his approach was recognized by guards of either branch. He didn't quite mind it so as long as his contemporaries kept in line and performed their jobs as they should.

Shades of armor darkened as he strolled into Luna's wing of the castle, where his squad mates worked day in and day out (with rotations, of course). On the rarest and, typically, the most unanticipated of occasions did Celestia's guards stand watch in this section. As much of an oxymoron as it was, night guards under Captain Fallen Star's order—and sometimes Night's—were stationed here all hours of the day.

Looping around one corner, one quality Night wished for some time soon would be the peace, quiet, and more importantly, the lack of an eyesore of scaffolding from one end of the corridor to the other. He and everypony else despised remodeling as much as the next pony, even though he knew for it to be necessary. 

Bluish, crystal-like pillars on corner ends and the matching primer on the walls would soon be replaced by cobblestone, lightweight albeit sturdy. A couple of ponies under Night's order expressed concern for the change with the mutual feeling that Luna's wing was steadily turning into a dungeon. 

While only partially correct in their dismay, after all, it was the princess' decision regarding the design. An extension to the building was added in late, as well, to accommodate new barracks for the Zodiacs on the floor below, a new stairwell, an office for Night, a refurbished medical ward, and three extra secrecy rooms to serve each a different purpose.

As a result of the layout alterations, the meeting room would soon be torn down, opening up an enormous space in the wing for workers to begin raising new walls. Thankfully, these changes did not affect Night's quarters... much. Although, for as strange as he was, along with his polar-opposite sleeping schedule, burden came in the form of noise during the morning and afternoon hours that constantly broke his work concentration in his poorly-soundproofed apartment.

Even Luna herself expressed minor regret for approving the revisions. She, out of most ponies who occupied her wing whether it be for work or sleeping in billets while new housing was constructed, was the nocturnal one. Most of the time, that is. Workers minimized clamor as much as they possibly could, so as not to disturb the slumbering alicorn, even though her quarters were designed for muffling sound far more efficiently. No pony seemed to escape the frustration brought with reconstruction.

Night's jaunt weaving under scaffolding brought him to his final destination: the doors leading in to the conference hall, held wide open by holder legs. Inside remained just the center table, and many stacked boxes of paperwork to more than likely be disposed of. 

The chairs that formerly surrounded the glass-topped table had since been moved into temporary storage, as well as decorative objects, such as plants, a chandelier, and picture frames or plaques hung up on the one solid wall not made of frosted bulletproof glass.

"Ya think we got enough garbage to sort through, Cap?" chuckled the dark-cyan earth pony, slapping another heavy cardboard box on top of another, sliding it neatly into place.

"Too much if you ask me," replied Night, minding his steps of lingering nails on the floor. He preferred to be cautious, despite kicking guards as part of his uniform. "It is all organized, correct?"

A third, somewhat smaller pony in the room, floating up from behind the piles previously obscuring him, answered for Lodestar. "Down to the date and everything, Captain!"

Night nodded once to the both of them. "Good work, Lode, Skye. If it weren't required of us to hold on to everything, I would simply say make a bonfire out of it and we invite the whole Guard roast marshmallows around it," he joked.

The silver pegasus stallion floating just above the table quietly snickered, while Lodestar laughed more sardonically. "Hah! If only..."

"Just what are we doing with all of this?" Skye Racer landed, his hooves producing an echoing thunk against the cold stone-tiled floor. He eyeballed the enormous collection of documents filed away tidily into over a dozen storage boxes.

Night raised a hoof to his chin, tapping it there. "Well, it has got to go somewhere while they tear this room down. Truthfully, I fail to see why the Archives can't take all of it. All this is doing is taking up valuable space in our cabinets."

"Aye, good idea. Some poor pony down below'll take it, I'm sure; whoever it is that holds on to all of the Royal Guard's files and whatnot." Lode commented, beginning to wrap transparent tape along another box's lid to seal it.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just move it wherever so it is out of the workers' way, I will figure something out sooner or later. After all, it will be a month or longer before they are finished," said Night.

"Whatever you say, Cap." Lodestar took a step back, Skye Racer coming up beside him. "Well, that's that done. Any idea where the cart's at, Corporal?"

The silver pegasus stallion blinked, his ear flicking. "Not a clue, Sergeant. Haven't seen Specialist Stellar Star all day, sir," he responded, wiping down his forehead. "Is it just me, or is it getting a bit warm in here?"

Night's gaze lifted to the vents in the ceiling, frowning. "They better not have disconnected the air conditioning. Do they have any clue of the forecast next week?"

"You would think that is their first concern when working," Lodestar remarked with distinct nerve in his tone.

The gold of Night's eyes shifted down from the ceiling to the other pegasus' light blue stare. "You said Stellar's yet to show, Skye?"

With minor annoyance, he nodded. "Said he was going to grab a cart for us to load all of this junk on," he replied, leaning by his hoof on to one of the boxes, its weight enough to prop him up and not budge, which would have resulted in him toppling over hysterically in front of them both.

That brought a small grunt out of Night, beginning to sweat himself in the stuffy, warming room. "I'll see if I can track him down myself, or get Zipline or Duskbloom to do it. He better not have used that request as an excuse to scurry off and hit the flea market again."

Skye blinked, saying in more of a statement than a question, "Would it surprise any of us anymore?"

"You would think after my last two warnings, he'd understand," Night rolled his eyes, turning to head out. "He better hope I am not the one to find him—"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" came a deeply apologetic shouting voice from down the hall. The noise of objects big and small falling over onto the floor were amplified by the tall, slender architecture of the corridors, along with the fast-approaching light rumble of wheels on the hard floor surface.

The three observed as a flat cart with a tall push handle on the rear came to a sudden halt beyond the wide-open double doors. Letting go of it and hurrying into the room panted a bat pony, missing his armor, his mint green cores dilated and chest heaving with every deep breath.

"Better late than never, Specialist." Lodestar's brow arched, the expression he wore and tone of his voice stern with exasperation.

"S-sorry!" Stellar huffed, heart pounding against his chest. He took posture pressed up against the edge of the table to catch his breath. "I'm sorry, Sergeant."

"Don't worry about it, Stellar." Night waved his hoof, flashing a look at Lodestar. "You retrieved the cart and that is all that matters."

He watched as the worry on his face vanished and transformed into a meek smile of immense relief. "Th-thank you, Captain. Again, I am sorry it took s-so long to grab it."

Night returned a reassuring smile of his own to show an absence of any particular disappointment. "You did well. Bring it on in here."

As Stellar moved to do so, Night turned back to Lode and Skye, imposing a silent look that told them without words necessary to go easy on the young stallion-turned-specialist, and so they would with his simple yet earnest order.

Two and a half years later, and he had taken notice of Stellar's ongoing struggle to fit in with the unit, and his own growing urge to step in to try and be of some assistance. Night hated to be one to sit back and observe, even though the advice from his authoritative half insisted on it. But it was the pony in him that wanted all to be comfortable around each other and feel a part of the cause, to play their roles as they should.

By the time Lodestar, Skye Racer, and Stellar Star had begun the hefty process of piling up boxes onto the trolley, Night stormed out of the room, bent on locating the pony behind the lack of cold air flow in Luna's wing before her highness could.
> Mishaps & Misfortune
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Specialist Stellar Star?" Night called on his way into the break room.

Stellar shot up from his chair, hooves clicking together as he immediately snapped to attention posture. "Yes, Ca-Captain?"

Night's golden gaze steadily met the mint of the specialist's, his tone even as he said, "My quarters in five. I would like to have a word with you."

Initially, the young stallion wasn't sure of what to make out of the captain's request. His heart raced, mind set on the possibility that he had done something wrong and was not aware of it. For months prior he worried that a mistake, on his part, whether great or minuscule, would come back around. Now he assumed this was that time.

"Y-yes... yes, sir!" he threw up a shaky salute, which Night returned before heading out.

Once the door closed, Stellar looked over his shoulder at his fellow squad mates, all of whom at an equal level of bewilderment as him.


⚔


Two knocks, followed by the call of Night's voice, saying, "It's open!"

Ever so gently, the door cracked open, creating just enough space for the nervous thestral stallion to slip inside and close it behind him, shifting to face the superior approaching from the center of the room. Before he had any chance to do anything else, Night asserted, "At ease."

"Y-you requested to speak to me, Captain?" Stellar said, stepping cautiously inside.

"Yes, of course." Night nodded once. "Thank you for coming on time, by the way," he remarked.

"I couldn't disobey a direct order, sir," the younger bat pony smiled sheepishly, head and ears low out of concern. "What was it you wished to speak with me about?"

"I am temporarily demoting you back to private," was Night's response, as flat out as possible and the most serious Stellar had ever heard come from him.

Stellar's eyes shot wide open in utter shock, neck immediately straightening and ears stood attentively atop his head. He sputtered for a moment, taking a good few seconds until he could at last articulate. "W-what?! Captain, I—"

Night promptly raised his hoof, a gesture to halt the young pony from rambling. "Hear me out. I would like to experiment a bit with you. Nothing bad, but, I've noticed for quite some time that you are having trouble."

"Trouble... w-with what?" his ears folded back.

"From what I can make out, anywhere between simple tasks to being on time for your shifts. Those are only prime examples out of a list I have."

"How... how long?" Stellar stammered, his body notably trembling.

"Since your graduation from the academy," Night firmly stated, retaining an even tone in his voice.

Stellar rubbed along his forehoof gently, head tucking into his neck, his heart throbbing away in his chest in a small panic. "I-I'm... I'm sorry, Captain. I-I try my hardest, I promise!"

A nod of understanding came in response from Night. "I trust that you are, and I can see that perfectly. That said, your best falls short of what we here in the Zodiacs are looking for. Since two and a half years ago when we lost Lance Corporal Shieldhunter, things have not been the same around here, and there have been countless and constant rotations for everypony to make up for his absence."

He then gestured the small stallion over to a rounded table in the kitchen, where the two sat beside each other, Night turning his chair to directly look Stellar in the eye. For a time, eye contact was particularly difficult with Stellar's mint irides constantly darting away, as if purposely avoiding Night, who chose to ignore it and went on.

"It has been extremely stressful, I know that much. Stressful for everypony, especially me. A lot of that pressure has been loaded on everyone's shoulders, yours particularly. It's to my knowledge that some of my seconds and thirds—Sergeant Lodestar and Corporal Skye Racer, for instance, have even been going to the lengths to test your boundaries like they did yesterday with the cart."

"Yeah, that... I'm sorry it took so long—"

Night raised his hoof again, stopping Stellar a second time. "I have spoken to both of them personally, and they should no longer be all over you. I believe they were doing it for a couple of reasons that you yourself may understand. As such, I expect some changes on your part as well as theirs, and what I wish for you to understand is simple."

"Call it creepy as you may, yes, I have been observant of your behavior. I have made it my peripheral duty as a captain to ensure my subordinates are comfortable with what they do, both here at home or wherever we go next. But, our duty as Zodiacs is plain and simple: to protect Princess Luna, and the citizens of Equestria."

"So long as you continue this track of yours, the possibility rises of another catastrophic incident that could end with you or somepony else gravely injured, or worse."

Stellar knew the captain was right. The young bat pony swallowed heavily at that, maintaining attention toward him even as his own ears continually lost their perk and pinned to his head. He was a ticking time bomb, he understood that much, and he craved adjustment.

"There needs to be a change, Stellar, or else I am afraid your time with us could soon come to an end. That is why I am temporarily demoting you."

A brief silence followed, before a hesitant reply came, "Y-yes, sir," he slowly nodded comprehensively. "And... w-what do you mean by 'temporarily'?"

"To figure out a line of where you can start. The lower your rank, the less of a workload you will endure. Meeting that qualification means we can build you up, and you may earn your rank back. Is that clear?"

Straightening his back just a bit, taking in a deep breath, Stellar nodded confidently. "Crystal, sir."

Night nodded once in return. "Good. So, beginning tonight, light duties for you. Nothing serious, perhaps a few mail runs across the palace, what ever there is for you to get done that is simple. Tomorrow morning I will have First Sergeant Stormfire accompany you on the training field for some minor exercises. How does that sound?"

"That sounds fine, Captain. I-I will not let you down."

"I trust you won't. Apart from that, have you had any trouble with your fellow squad mates?"

Stellar cocked his head to the left a little. "No, sir. J-just... never know how to approach most of them is all."

"Do elaborate." Night requested, easing into his chair.

"W-well..." Stellar's eyes darted away briefly, hoof tapping on the edge of his chair cushion's wooden frame. "I-if I need help with something, I do not know who to ask. That, o-or I'll... turn them down politely because I want to accomplish something on my own. The right way, for once."

"Would any of this have to do with your, erm..." Night paused to briefly contemplate his word selection. "...condition?"

A small gasp escaped the stallion. "N-no, sir!" he shook his head, "...well, m-maybe, just a little bit. But I have not had any troubles regarding it. Not lately, that is."

"That is good to hear at least," Night nodded again, before asking, "What is it you needed help with?"

Stellar blinked twice, relaxing his muscles and folding his ears back gently. "Where do I begin, Captain?"

"Anywhere you like. I am all ears," answered Night, offering a comforting smile.

The two stallions stared at each other in silence for a few lengthy moments. Stellar, after that time, took in another deep breath, parting his maw to begin, when the door threw open and abruptly ceased his words.

"Captain, there has been an incident!"


⚔


Glowering at the cyan earth pony before, for the third time, Night brought his hoof up to his face and shook his head slowly in minor irritation. "How. How do you dislocate your shoulder while stretching?"

"That might be a question for the medic, Cap," chuckled Lodestar, only to wince mildly afterward. His entire left shoulder bone had shifted forward two inches, leaving that entire arm hanging limp beneath it.

"But how? How is that even to a degree possible?!"

"Well, I... you know. I've been trying out some, uh... yoga routines. Stretching backwards was, um... one of them." Lodestar provided an innocent yet contrite smile. Night simply rolled his eyes, grousing in a low volume.

Only a few moments later, the door opened, and in strode a blonde-maned draft stallion with a red medical cross centered above a silver shield for a cutie mark. In one of his trimmed hooves he carried a patient form on a clipboard, and around his neck hung a stethoscope.

The calm emerald green of his eyes raised to meet the Lodestar's copper cores. "All right. What are we in for this time, Sergeant?"

Lodestar grew a guilty smile across his muzzle. "Ehehe. I might have... dislocated my shoulder."

"So I have noticed," responded Rescue Sunstreak after a quick glance, placing the clipboard down on the counter beside the bed-like table. "Might I ask how?"

"Yoga," Night answered sneeringly, hooves crossing as he eased back into his seat.

"What is it you have been doing that compels you to take to yoga exercises?" Rescue inquired.

"That's precisely what I asked!" Night threw his hooves up in exasperation, tossing another dirty look at the injured earth pony.

"You are perfectly healthy as it is. Well, apart from this," groused the medic pony, taking Lodestar's limp arm in his hoof carefully and lifting it to study its movement without causing him any pain. "Hmm..."

"How's it look?" Lodestar glanced down at his hoof, still unable to move it at all under his own power.

Rescue looked up at him. "Don't conceivably understand how you have managed to accomplish this, Lode. Regardless, it is an easy fix."

Lodestar nodded, letting off a low, deep breath. He knew what had to be done and braced for the medic's word.

"My advice?" Rescue raised his hoof to Lodestar's shoulder and grabbed it suddenly, shoving it backward with an audible crack that had Night cringing from head to tail.

As soon as the entire shoulder bone snapped back into its rightful position, a near-bloodcurdling, pained scream unlike any Night had ever heard coming from Lodestar pierced the air until his lungs had emptied fully from both the wail and the agony that gripped him after the fact. This was followed by deep, groaning breaths and a few grunts. Miraculously, his arm had feeling once more and he could pivot it about with a sharp pain that toned down per movement.

"...No more yoga." Rescue backed off, removing his hooves from Lodestar's shoulder and chest.

The dark cyan pony winced audibly with tears in his eyes, but managing to retain a smile on his muzzle. "Th-thank you," he huffed out, rubbing along his still-tense shoulder vigorously with his right hoof in attempt to try and relax it.

Rescue smiled warmly, patting the back of his unperturbed opposite shoulder. "Not a problem. Be sure to go easy on that hoof for today and tomorrow, and then there should be no pain after that."

"W-will do," Lodestar responded with a shaky breath, nodding and easing himself down from the table with care. He had a faint limp to his stride on his way out of the room to work off the aches.

Night faintly grinned, turning to the large stallion after Lodestar had gone. "You made it painful for him on purpose, didn't you?" 

"I could have given him warning." Rescue shrugged. "I chose not to. Besides, the process would have been painful nevertheless. You could see him tense up before I did it because he knew what was coming."

"Oh, yes." Night nodded firmly. "First thing I noticed," he added, rising to his hooves and lightly stretching on their tips.

"One other thing," Rescue turned to him, having put on a far more serious look on face and stating sternly, "Yoga or no yoga, that was not from stretching. Not any kind of stretching I have ever heard of. Should it happen again, he may not be as lucky to have it pop right back in."

"Well, let us hope that does not come to pass. For your sake, and his." Night's ear twitched. "Thank you, Rescue."

The dark brown draft stallion returned a firm nod, giving a brief flick of his head to bounce a tumble of his blonde mane out of his eye. "Just doing my job, Captain. No necessity for formal gratitude."

"Right." Night nodded once back. "I'll leave you to your responsibilities."

The two exchanged dutiful salutes and parted ways from the exam room, before Rescue peeked his head out after Night and called out to him. "Hey, one more thing."

Stopping halfway to the ward exit, Night peeked over his shoulder, swiveling himself somewhat to directly meet Rescue's stare. "What is it?"

"Checkup, next week. Ten sharp!" the medic reminded aloud.

"Eleven!" Night insisted, proceeding to the hallway, garnering an incoherent grumble from the draft stallion, who soon returned to his work.

Always having been mindful of his personal health, as well as his schedule, Night's choice of time for such appointments remained consistent. Never were they remotely a minute early or later than the ones preceding them. There was something about these bi-monthly checkups where he preferred them at eleven o'clock that not even he knew the reason behind it, nor did he find it important enough to call it something other than a harmless habit of his.


⚔


A ring of three keys clinked against one another, fumbling in Night's hold when he plucked one of the trio and strolled up to the door leading into his quarters. It slipped into the slot smoothly, the lock clicking quietly as it twisted with his hoof's motion and the door swinging inward with a genial nudge of his shoulder.

Hues of gold and orange inundated his suite-like palace apartment from the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows and balcony doors, glimmering atop the cold grey of the cobble floor. A cozy, mid-evening atmosphere filled the room as a result, once more reminding the stallion of his gratefulness to spend the recent six years of his life in such a position; one far from his mind within possibility's reaches those seventy-two months prior.

It hit him as a strange feeling, comprehending that time ago that he was a part of the lowest, most frowned upon class in all of Canterlot; a beggar. No money, no food, no shelter from the elements accompanying the season spent out in the open. 

He flicked a glance to one particular white knit blanket of his during that time, one rediscovered merely a year and a quarter before, spending its time long washed and folded atop a wooden trunk at the foot of his bed, serving as a reminder to greatly cherish life as it is presently, and what it once was. It even saved a friendship of his in hard times, and thinking on it almost never neglected to bring a warm smile to his muzzle.

What did, however, was the pile of work still on his desk at the end of the day. He noticed it only halfway through kicking off his hoof guards and undoing the barrel strap holding his main piece of armor to him. A grimace swiftly replaced his relief of coming home to relax for the evening, realizing then that he could not simply leave the neatly-stacked tower of envelopes to themselves. At least some of it needed to be looked over before the night settles to give a moderate sense of satisfaction to himself for having accomplished something other than bark at a pair of incompetent guards in the palace for deserting their adjacent posts unwarranted for Luna knows what reason, one neither of whom gave. Not truthfully, anyhow.

Grumbling incoherently whilst smacking himself mentally, Night stripped the rest of his purple and navy uniform, abandoning the pieces where they had dropped on the floor while he strolled over to his desk to get started. He plopped down on the seat of his chair and took the most recent of reports from the very top of the stack, tearing a neat slit through the sleeve with the help of a fang as opposed to an envelope knife, what all average ponies used for opening mail.

A large portion of the paperwork involved the coming Summer Sun Celebration—three months in advance. Of course, with such a momentous event as it was, early preparation quickly became routine for him and his one superior; but the weight primarily fell on Night's shoulders. He was, after all, Head Captain of the Zodiacs, only second-in-command of the unit under the Captain of the Lunar Guard, Commander Fallen Star. For soon to be Night's fifth year, this event will only be one more added to the list of countless events and trips under his supervision.

Arguably, it may not have been Princess Luna's greatest notion to raffle the location of the festival, especially so late. These were typically determined in the weeks following the celebration before it. Night's instinct told him that this will be Luna's first—and last—decision regarding the Summer Sun Celebration and its arrangement. He only chose to wait for Celestia's agreement before advancing his opinion.

In fifteen minutes, Night made it through nine of what he presumed to be fifty, sixty, or more of heaping envelopes casting a rectangular shadow over his desk. Miraculously the tower seemed to hold steady, even with him plucking letters impetuously from the top like an automated machine. Despite this, each glance he took toward the stack brought any type of quiet, unintelligible mumble or grouse out of him, knowing no matter how much he managed to complete tonight that it would remain as his first priority tomorrow morning.

But, as he drew a tidily-folded report from his eleventh envelope and began to set his focus on reading, a loud, repetitive banging startled him. He impulsively crammed his hooves together, consequently crumpling the paper between them and ruining any chance of neatly compacting it as a latter result.

Groaning in annoyance, Night swiveled his chair, looking at the door and raising his voice for whomever on the other side to hear, "It's open!" before returning to his work.

After a minute or so, no one had entered. His gaze lifted from the desk until a second, softer knock came. He turned over his shoulder, repeating himself, "It's open, come on in!"

Again, silence. Then, a third knock.

"Oh, sugar honey iced tea!" Night promptly slapped the wrinkle-riddled report on his desk and went straight for the door. In the three seconds the journey lasted, he spent that time mentally preparing himself to whack somepony into next Tuesday, or refrain himself from it.

He took the latch in his hoof and twisted it, pulling open the door. With but a moment's notice, Night ducked below a blur of grey and blue that landed some five feet behind, skidding to a halt on the cobble on her hooves, all while laughing like a maniac.

"Scarlet!" Night yelped, standing up and kicking the door shut. "What have I told you about entering like a normal pony?!"

The dark grey thestral mare, still cackling a good few moments later, now faced Night and meandered over to the fuming pegasus. "Oh, c'mon! You know how much I love to buzz the tower. Lighten up a bit!"

He rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath. "If I get any brighter, I'll be able to blend with snow!" To him then, that was not too shabby of an idea.

"Hey." Scarlet Iris took a gentle jab at his chest with her hoof, sporting a toothy grin. "I'd hate to have to throw lamp at ya, but if it comes to it..."

"There will be no lamp throwing. Not in my house," Night stated firmly, unexpectedly returning a little poke to Scarlet's nose that had her wrinkling her muzzle instinctively.

"C'mon, not fair!" she whined, flailing her hoof and purposely missing with her swats. Her attention shifted to the pile gathering on Night's desk, perking immediately. "What on earth is going on over there?"

Sighing, Night replied with, "Trying to catch up on work. Missed out an entire day," strolling back to the chair and taking a seat.

Scarlet followed, posting up off to the side, between his bed's nightstand and the desk itself. "If I didn't know any better already, I'd say you're pursuing a secondary career in architecture."

"Oh, please," Night jokingly scoffed. "The Guard is my lifelong career. At least, that's what I expect it to be. Thunder felt otherwise a little over a year ago, though. Turned in his resignation papers to find something else to do," he then chuckled. "Didn't last very long. Besides, architecture sucks!"

The thestral mare gasped sharply, holding a hoof to her chest. She looked as if Night had offended the gods without remorse. "I beg your pardon?! I'll have you know—" She was silenced by another swift boop to the nose, causing her to flail around some more. "Stop it!"

"Or what?" Night countered, smirking deviously. "You'll flirt me to death?"

"Or... or..." Scarlet stammered, hunting for a somewhat tenable parry. "Or I'll do this!" she finished, nudging the stack with the gentlest of touches.

"Please don't..." Night reached out, gently pushing a flat hoof to the tower's side to stop it from toppling over. "...touch that."

"Ha!" Scarlet drew back, puffing her chest in victory. "Gotcha!"

A grin curved the stallion's lips, leaning over to tenderly nuzzle the smaller mare. "You suuuuure did."

"Mmmh," Scarlet closed her eyes, returning his nuzzle with her own, followed by a quick peck on his chin. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too." Night smiled warmly. "When are we going to have our second evening?"

"Second date, you mean?" Scarlet corrected with a sly grin. The difference between her old colony and Night's were evident, especially with certain terms. "Well, you know, I was thinking..."

While listening to the blue-maned thestral, Night returned to his work. "Mmhmm?"

"How about we do it tonight?" she offered.

Night's eyes widened a bit, ears perking attentively. "Tonight?" Scarlet nodded eagerly. "I'm sorry, I have a little bit too much to do around here. Maybe, uh... this weekend?"

"Well, we don't have to go anywhere..." she added, blinking a few times with a tone of pink warming her cheeks.

"What do you mean?" Night cocked his head, genuinely puzzled.

"I think there are a few things around here that we could do." Scarlet suggested, mounting up on his chair and looping her hooves around him from behind, pecking the side of his neck affectionately.

Thin heat spread on Night's cheeks, caught moderately off guard by the flirtatious mare's sudden tenderness. His ear twitched, given the impression that she might have been leading on to something. With Scarlet, he knew it could be anything from tracking down a karaoke night at a popular watering hole or spending time at some of her favorite shops downtown—too much time in the mind of the average stallion. But those were all beyond the palace borders.

The problem was, this time, he could not put his hoof on it. "What are you thinking?"

"We coooould... hang out for a bit, order in, a movie," she cooed, demonstratively nuzzling his neck.

"That sounds good—wait a minute. We can't watch a movie in here!" Night glanced back at her, his eyebrow arching with bewilderment.

A wily smile grew across the mare's muzzle, her deep red cores meeting the fine gold of Night's. "I never said watch, dearest."

He blinked a couple of times in confusion, only to come to the realization around a minute later, after a lengthy silence. Night swiftly rose from his chair, facing the mare when she let her somewhat tight grasp around him lower. The grin on her face grew wider, exhibiting one of her fangs that flashed at him and brought a profuse blush to his cheeks.

Scarlet spun for the bed, gently flicking her tail at the stallion. Halfway to it, she glanced over her shoulder to stare at the motionless pegasus and gestured her head. "Well, you coming?"

Red burned hot on Night's cheeks. His jaw hung slightly parted, watching the mare of almost his precise coat color sway herself toward his bed. The first strides he took were gradual, but picked up to almost a gallop in the brief distance separating himself and Scarlet. 

By the time she reached his bed and began to work her way up, Night had leaped airborne, intent on harmlessly tackling the bat pony mare completely onto the bed. A loud squeak broke from her gape, unanticipatedly rolling in center with the help of Night's strength that landed him above her. Their wide-eyed gazes locked immediately, sharing the torrid sense of embarrassment accompanied by pure, untapped fervent desire for one another in that very instance.
> Double Shift Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soft, peaceful snores saturated the dimly-moonlit room. The two ponies who occupied the private apartment went unperturbed by each others' ambience of slumber, interlocking one another with their hooves that anypony who might otherwise notice would perceive the assumption that the duo were a long happy couple, regardless of the Guard's withstanding tradition.

The blend of the two ponies' coats provided a soothing warmth that essentially defeated the need to cover up. While the stallion exhibited a pegasus physique, he too sustained the features of his fellow bat pony. This predominantly included the relative thickness of his fur, where centuries of evolution granted their race the potential to endure harsh conditions in or around their respective colonies more typically situated near towering mountain ranges and the colder climates of the north.

For them, however, it presented a different type of warmth. The combination yielded a sense of solace between one another, a knowledge that they both had each other. For Night to hold Scarlet, Scarlet to grasp Night, they snoozed peacefully without a worry in the world, shaded by a blooming cherry blossom under a golden sunset, stroking the mare's blue strands with a hoof.

But, it wasn't bound to last forever. Soon Night Shadow found himself distancing from the beautiful soul nestled against his chest, drawn further and further by an invisible force that carried him effortlessly from their oasis toward a midnight world with no stars or moon. It was not long before the hilltop he laid on seemingly vanished into thin air, encased by pitch black.

He sat up, scrutinizing the unfamiliar surrounding with a look of bewilderment dominating his otherwise placid countenance. The feathers on his wings ruffled at a sudden shiver that crept up his spine, and the tuft on the back of his neck stood on end in alarm.

From his current position, Night could not otherwise detect any danger. In fact, there wasn't any to begin with, yet his senses tingled; like a border collie whose perception had been disturbed by something that just was not there. His skin crawled in response, fixating toward one particular direction—a heading that spanned every which way. He could no longer make out which way was up or down either, because it all led to the same place.

His ear swiveled as it latched on to the first noise to break the silence, a whisper. Inaudible at first, though it gradually approached, as if attached to a figure camouflaged by the black surrounding him, caressing his form. It called his name. But it didn't make sense.

Night blinked, and when he did, he was laying in the middle of a snowy clearing, surrounded in all directions by deciduous trees, thin at their trunks and branches that swayed ever so gently in the frigid breeze. This place seemed all too familiar.

Out of the corner of his eye as he sat up, a grey pegasus galloped toward him. The pony was eyeballing something to his left. Night shifted immediately and found Scarlet in a tussle with another bat pony. 

Then came a glimmer from above. Night darted his eyes skyward, instantly freezing in place as he watched an airborne enemy take aim for the mare. He wanted to move to take them down, but was ultimately frozen with disorientation. He watched helplessly as an arrow shot from the crossbow on a collision course with the rear of Scarlet's neck which would surely kill her. It was, however, blocked by the light-coated pegasus moments after he bellowed a lungful warning to her.

A short splatter of ichor slapped to Scarlet's forehead as she twisted in the direction of the pegasus, catching her off guard and gasping in shock as the pegasus dropped to the snow. She screamed, rushing to the stallion's side as he now painted the canvas beneath him in a dark crimson.

Night felt his breath grow short and heart begin to pound. He watched without moving nor saying a word. There was nothing he could do as he watched the life slip from the gravely wounded night guard, and heard the cries of Scarlet, screaming for him to stay awake just a little bit longer as a thick fog encompassed them all.

These terrifying recollections permeated the dark that encased Night's quivering form, flashing past in the blink of an eye but sticking to him like sap-coated autumn leaves on their way to the forest floor.

"Night... NIGHT!"


⚔


"Night! Hey, wake up!" Scarlet Iris called, hoof on the stallion's dampened shoulder and vigorously shaking in an attempt to wake the nightmare-cursed stallion.

After a solid three and a half minutes, Night Shadow opened his eyes and shot up. Out of his reflexes, he lurched left in anticipation to be dodging something. It took him only a second to realize, flailing his hooves as he fell out of bed and landed on the cobble floor below with his hinds tangled between the covers, muzzle smashing into the hardened surface. "Agh!"

He sucked in a heavy breath as pain surged through his nose, and was panting for the following few seconds. In his state of disarray, it all seemed to go on for ages. He grasped the fur of his chest and the skin below in a death grip as his heart thumped against his trembling hoof. Scarlet swooped in front of him from the bed. "Night!"

Night's breath slowed drastically over the course of just a couple more moments and resorted to deep inhales every two seconds to let his heartbeat cliff to what would be considered a healthy rate. He then felt a warm fluid run down his muzzle toward his lips, impulsively wiping his nose and expecting to see blood. To his relief, none was present.

He lifted his gaze slowly. "What...?" he said in a complete exhale, blinking as a bead of sweat rolled down the outer rim of his eye. Night was completely soaked in his own perspiration, wet to a point where, from a distance, it would appear as if he had just bathed or gone for a swim in the creek.

The grey thestral mare in front of him, pinning her ears. Quickly, she tore the blankets off of his legs and brought him upright, placing both of her forehooves on either shoulder and promptly met his frightened golden gaze with her own. "I thought you were dying! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Lifting up his hoof higher, Night wiped down his forehead and examined it and the film of sweat that now slicked it. His entire body quaked, far harder than he would easily admit to any of his subordinates or coworkers. He swallowed a mass of saliva having gathered in his maw and blinked, shivering as his sopping body cooled, particularly against the rather frigid surface of his stony floor. "I-I'm fine... I think. Nose hurts, though."

Plopping down in front of him on the floor, Scarlet took the pegasus in a lung-crushing embrace, so tight that he audibly wheezed as the air was crushed out of his body. He flailed after she refused to let go, before gently prying her away and drew in a deep breath to compensate for the sixty seconds without it. She then proceeded to wind her hoof back, driving it straight into his shoulder at full speed.

Night let off a pained yip, rubbing his shoulder. "Ow! What the hell was that for?!"

"For startling me like that!" the bat mare squealed. "I've never heard you make those noises before... I'm not sure anyone has, and I certainly do not want to hear them again..."

The pegasus perked his ears a little bit, looking the mare dead in her crimson irides. "What... noises?"

With a heart wrenching, breaking voice, Scarlet responded, "You... were..." only to pause, sniffling and letting off a shaky breath, "y-you were whining, almost like a puppy. Crying, even. Nothing l-like I have ever heard before in my life. You were... so... scared."

The two exchanged teary-eyed stares with one another, before Night pulled Scarlet into yet another embrace. He closed his eyes, drew in a breath, and let it off in a deep sigh.

"W-what was it, Night?"

"What was... what?"

Scarlet sniffled heavily, her eyes glossed and watery all across. "The dream... what was it about?"

In that instance, Night froze. He grew discernibly tense in his grasp on Scarlet, as noted when his hooves tightened around her. They had been occurring for nearly a year now, and, while infrequent, came to be a nuisance that he believed would be best kept under wraps until he could figure something out. To him, it could have been minutes before he could settle with a reply that would do less than worry her.

"Just... something weird. Something that spooked me more than it should have. You know, like how Halfmoon's afraid of pasta?"

The remark brought a small and rather unexpected giggle out of Scarlet, effectively breaking the concern for the stallion. Mostly. "Like that, huh?"

Night responded with a gentle nod, bringing a hoof up to stroke the dark blue strands of Scarlet's mane, particularly messy from a night's rest and the evening prior. She closed her eyes, leaning into his hoof, rumbling a low, contented purr.

A period of silence only barely disturbed by Scarlet's purrs and Night's occasional exhales as he recovered from the nightmare fell upon the room for a few minutes, until the golden irises of the bat-pegasus, enhanced in the dark by blood and genetics, cast upon the little alarm clock on his nightstand.

His lips curled into a half-frown, turning his gaze toward the window panes on the opposite side of his bed. The sun was still roughly an hour and a half from dawn, although a guard's duties typically began around this time of morning, if not later in his case. Better yet, today was a day for extended shifts, meaning he and most of his ponies are due for work until after midnight with only two breaks in between.

More so, he acknowledged the need for a squad briefing at some point later on, after a noble assembly with the princesses that afternoon with supposedly crucial information regarded. Without a proper meeting room, however, it would force him to work something else out in the meantime.

"I should... take a shower," commented Night, slowly taking his hooves off of Scarlet and rising to all fours.

"But whyyyyy?" she whined, grabbing his shoulder and stopping him. "It's so eaaaarlyyyy."

"Because..." Night took her hoof and moved it gently, smiling tiredly. "Double duty today, remember?"

Scarlet's eyes brightened, then rolled back as she fell to flat to the floor. "Uuuugh, you're right," she groaned. "Can I call in sick?"

Night stood, shaking his wings off and glancing over his shoulder with a small smirk. "Well, if you hadn't just told your superior, and perchance you were dating Lodestar instead, I'd let that one slide."

She gnashed her teeth, motionless. "Nnnhh. Niiiiight, don't treat me like your sister!"

"Oh, heavens, no. I only treated her like this when she didn't want to get out of bed to go to school," he said, smirk growing wider, strolling to the bathroom and heading inside without so much as turning on the light. He didn't need to, even under what an average pony would consider pitch-black conditions.

From in the bathroom, after starting the water, he called, "Join me, if you want."


⚔


After a long and rather rejuvenating shower, Night hopped out to dry himself off and groom his mane to perfection. Alas, the form of which his two-tone purple mane took would, under any normal circumstance, be achieved through excessive amounts of styling gel. It soon became a common question within and beyond the palace grounds regarding what brand he uses, and where it is purchased from; one of many misconceptions about bat ponies and their bodies, as his mane has maintained this shape since foalhood with proper care.

Freshened up and having washed the scent of fear-induced sweat from his coat, Night stepped out into the bedroom with the towel draped over his sides. A wall of steam collapsed behind him, freed by the open door and rolling out like a wave into the cooler air.

Scarlet Iris, having hopped in for only a couple of minutes, strapped on the main piece of her uniform armor, not too dissimilar to Night's, excluding the platinum devices on his breast plate, as compared to a mere rank insignia in a brushed silver on hers.

Night paused, furrowing his eyebrow at her. "I don't recall you wearing your armor over yesterday?"

"Oh, I flew off to go get it!" she replied energetically.

This further bewildered the pegasus, who raised his brow more. "You live all the way across town."

Scarlet rolled her eyes, sauntering up to Night and planting her hoof, clad in navy armored shoes, on his chest. "I keep a spare set in the locker room."

He continued to give her a questionable look for a few seconds more, only to shrug it off then and head to his wardrobe on the opposite side of his bed. The tall birch piece typically utilized for storing or hanging up clothes found other use, and concealed the triplet sets of armor Night had owned for years now and displayed similar wear to one another.

Tossing the balled-up towel into an empty laundry basket, Night then began dressing himself, piece by piece. And, like a filly gazing up at a colt band poster on her wall, Scarlet hopped onto Night's bed and propped her head up on both hooves, observing him with a half-lidded stare. She inhaled slowly, releasing it in the form of a contented, dreamy sigh, one that nabbed Night's attention.

His eyes darted to the right, setting upon a now-smirking thestral mare. "Yes?"

"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."

"Well, there's a fib of the century," Night retorted, a grin crossing his muzzle as he pulled down his main armor piece and slipped his head through the opening, followed by his wings, before finishing with the single leather strap looped around his barrel. Upon finishing, he turned to Scarlet. "How do I look?"

"Like a sexy beast. Mreow," she teased, curling her hoof forward and beaming a sly smirk.

Night rolled his eyes and scoffed. "What I meant was, is there anything wrong with me?"

Scarlet hopped off the bed. "Just your blatant lack of self confidence, sweetie."

The pegasus swiveled his ears back, cheeks burning a bright red in embarrassment. "With my armor."

"I would hope not. You're the captain, after all," Scarlet rejoined, nickering afterward.

Night flicked his ear, narrowing his sights on the shorter mare. "Six years doesn't make a difference if you're in a rush."

"What rush? You woke up a whole hour early, and it wasn't even my fault for once!"

"Well, I mean..."

Scarlet poked him on the muzzle, cutting him off. "Quiet, you."

Night blinked behind her hoof, reaching his own up to lower hers, nodding. "Shall we get going?"

With an agreeing nod, Scarlet started for the door with Night tailing closely. Once out in the hall, and having locked up behind them, Night took the lead for the relatively brief journey to Luna's wing to clock in for their shifts.

While they walked side by side, Scarlet figured it to be a splendid idea to start a conversation as they approached their separate paths, where she would wander off to her designated post. "You know, you still owe me a second date, you big dork."

"I thought that was a second date?" Night responded with a sheepish, dumb grin.

"Nah. Second dates are dinner dates, movie nights, stuff like on the first date," the mare said, pecking him on the tip of his nose. "Or, you know, stuff I like to do..."

"As long as karaoke does not involve alcohol, I can settle with that."

Scarlet pouted. "Hmph, you're no fun."

"But you love me." Night simpered mischievously.

"That, I do. And your big-headed, huge... dorkiness!"

"That isn't a real word!"

"Yes it is, because I said it!" she screeched. Thankfully, nopony else was around to have their eardrums burst.

"Get to your post before I chase you there! I'll clock you in for you," Night barked, his demeanor observably playful judging by the grin on his face.

Scarlet giggled, throwing up a very quick salute, "Yes, sir!" before zipping off to her station at neck-break speeds.

Night uttered a quiet chuckle, continuing his way, a warm smile present on his muzzle. To him, the mare was something else, and deep down he acknowledged his care and love for her. While not the first time in his life to harbor such feelings for somepony, it was, however, the strongest of emotions he has carried thus far beyond the boundaries of brotherhood between his fellow guards and good friends.

A year and a half since Topaz was brought to justice, and during that time period, new acquaintances have come and gone. The zebra in Hollow Shades, otherwise referred to within the division as the Savior of the Zodiacs, as well as the lieutenant major, who dropped under the Guard's radar immediately following the final confrontation, were among those to have terse yet pivotal effects on Night's career, and his life.

Contemplations were had, specifically regarding the recognition of Zava and, potentially, his integration into the Lunar Guard. He knew of his potential, specifically within his Zodiacs should he meet the mental requirements, much less physical. However, Night settled with respecting his way of life off the grid, as such a change would more than certainly throw the zebra into a culture shock.

Then, a completely different thought from a mere ten minutes prior came full circle, out of the blue in his present state of muse. He halted halfway down the corridor, ears perking attentively. "Wait a minute... we have a locker room?"


⚔


"Thank you, everypony, for coming this morning," said Princess Celestia in her usual warm, welcoming demeanor, with a smile as bright as the sun itself. She sat adjacent to her younger sister at a rounded table carved out of pure blue crystal, moved with much care in place at the center of the throne room for the gathering.

Sliding his chair in, Night placed his hooves neatly on the edge of the table. He glanced to his right, noting the presence of his one superior beside Princess Luna, Captain Fallen Star, Lieutenant Silent Knight, and the newly-appointed captain of the Canterlot City Guard, Commander Goldstead.

Only five months into his position, Goldstead took the helm from Prince Shining Armor three years after the former captain's resignation to the Frozen North alongside his wife, Princess Cadence. It was a debate long discussed throughout the Guard, with the biggest question being just who would step up to replace him after it was acknowledged that his presence in the Crystal Empire would hamper his ability to lead in Canterlot.

Having served for a decade come August, the aquamarine-coated earth pony climbed rapidly through the ranks before topping out at the rank of lieutenant colonel a mere three weeks following Tirek's nation-wide assault. He, among with four others of his rank or similar made the roster of candidates to be selected, and pulled an enormous victory in the local polls.

Taking a moment to have a brief sip of water, Princess Luna calmly added behind Celestia, "Unfortunately, Captain Thunderblast was unable to attend due to some unforeseen circumstances that called for his duties out west."

Night's gaze moved to his immediate left, setting momentarily upon the only empty seat at the table. It met him with disappointment that it was the second instance in recent time where his friend and former mentor has gone absent, this time due to his new line of work. 

He guessed that the change should have been expected after the talks began, some discussions he never took part in simply because it was not within his jurisdiction nor expertise. In fact, he had never remotely heard, not even from a brief mention, of Shadow Company. Knowledge of the unit's very existence remained strictly between the princesses and the two leading officers of the Royal Guard. Alas, the times were always undergoing change, major and minuscule, and he was forced to accept it one way or another.

"As each of you are well aware by this point, a recent string of robberies around the central sector of Canterlot have, well... sparked a bit of controversy," Celestia began, pausing only to clear her throat. "Since the second week of February—the eleventh, to be more precise—store owners in and around the downtown area have filed reports of items and merchandise missing from their shelves and backrooms."

The ice-white pegasus of Luna's House Guard retained a cool, collected demeanor as his steady silver sights directly met the purple cores of the alabaster alicorn. "How do they know what was stolen, if anything?"

Answering for the princesses, Goldstead's deepened tone broke the quiet. "Reports show that some shelves or racks have been wiped clean in some cases. Others, just one or two items."

"But each incident is connected," Princess Luna chimed in. "They all involve the theft of chemistry goods and basic products of potion-making. Strangely enough, registers and safes were left untouched, and there are little to no signs of forced entry. Two of the affected stores were equipped with alarms, and neither of which were tripped."

Silent Knight gently eased back into his seat, crossing his hooves over his chest. "Which means we are obviously dealing with somepony who has experience in the field of stealth."

"That is the problem we are facing here," said Celestia, straightening her spine and making eye contact with the pegasus lieutenant. She then shifted to her younger sister and gave her a nod.

A set of pictures, each brightened by the flash of the camera, were levitated in a blue magical aura before the four high-ranking officers. 

"These photographs were taken by detectives no more than fifteen minutes after Corporal Sansteed filed his own report, two nights ago," Princess Luna stated, before producing another set of pictures, "and these are from each of the crime scenes around town."

The four guards split up the pictures, taking two each to study and compare them. While different in appearance and angle by which they were taken, and the prints only visible through a black light spell, what they showed virtually matched one another. On top of that, the tracks shown were not of hooves, but rather paws.

"Corporal Sansteed was in the lower southeast wing of the palace when he noticed mud prints that seemingly lead in from a short window at ground level. Mind you, the level he was on dips mostly underground for much of the palace, but also, the windows there are reinforced by dungeon bars. The screen on the inside can be removed easily, and appears to have been put back as mud was also discovered along its edges. However, it is impossible for even a foal to squeeze through."

"Well, evidently they were successful, whoever they are," uttered Night, setting the pictures down on the table surface.

"Looks like the paw prints of a griffon. Constitution spy or insurgent, perhaps?" remarked Goldstead, lifting his gaze to the princesses.

Celestia shook her head gently. "What remains of the Great Gryphon Constitution far lacks the resources to pull off such acts today, let alone the ability to slip in and out of Equestrian cities through transportation hubs so easily. They did not specialize in stealthed attacks even when they were a larger and more credible threat. More so, no claw marks were found anywhere in any of these situations. That isn't to say that a griffon is ruled out, however.

"It is, for the time being, believed that the items stolen from the shops may play a role, assuming the suspect also has an extensive knowledge of potion making, or a form of magic that we are presently unfamiliar with, that they could have merely phased through the walls or ceiling. Although, with something other than a unicorn, this is highly unlikely."

Glances were exchanged between the four stallions, a couple nodding in silent agreement over notions with each other.

"Your Highness, what is your call?" calmly queried Fallen Star.

Luna raised her head, glancing over three of the four guards before her, all of which under her branch. "I am afraid without much information to base off of, the most we can do for right now is increase security in and around the palace. If somepony is slipping in undetected, we do not know what they are capable of, or what their intentions may be. As such, this is a risk that must not be taken lightly."

"This goes for your ponies, too, Commander," she added, eyes darting over to the lone day guard present. "This is a decision made on behalf of my sister and I. Alas, the burglar strikes past dusk, so it is the overnight hours that we must remain most vigilant."

The stallions each nodded collectively in full acknowledgement of the order. Extra security was nothing new, and everypony present understood that. Night, however, had a hunch that this would be a particularly difficult task.


⚔


As Night walked past the open door of the break room, he found Zipline to be in the midst of getting down with a broom and sweeping up the floors inside—a much unexpected, but pleasing sight to his eyes.

"Good morning, Corporal. Just would like to inform you that I am calling for a squad briefing at one after I set up a suitable—" He froze in his tracks just beyond the door, blinking twice as a look of perplexity took form on his mien when the realization hit him seconds late.

On the right of the kitchen counter in the break room, in dead center of the window and its wrought iron grid frame was a hole no more than five inches wide from what appeared to be some sort of projectile had crashed through it, with the outer edges surrounded by a reddish-orange transparent substance. Night eyeballed the mysterious damage with one ear pinned back. "What on earth happened here?"

As it now turned out, what was previously thought to be normal cleaning, was instead the red-maned white pegasus picking up shards of glass off of the black-and-white-tiled floor and into a dust pan to discard. Zipline turned to Night with a grimace. "Halfmoon happened, that's what."


⚔



Ten minutes prior...



⚔


Halfmoon closed the refrigerator door with her hind hoof, bringing over to the lunch table a vanilla pudding cup with red and blue sprinkles on top. She licked her lips, having waited her entire shift to sit down and enjoy it, and even briefly dreamt of it the day before during her sleep.

Only the hum of the microwave running in the background stood between her and a perfect atmosphere to savor the treat in. It had been on since she first stepped hoof in the break room, abandoned by somepony likely elsewhere while their lunch reheated.

Eventually, she grew tired of waiting. Her mouth was watering already. She peeled back the film covering the little plastic cup, raising the spoon and ready to dig in. Her hoof dipped, scooping up a sizable portion of sprinkled pudding.

Then, the bells of doom rang loudly in Halfmoon's ears. 

Her eyes expanded wide as she froze, the spoonful of pudding merely inches from her opened maw. Slowly, she turned over her shoulder toward the beeping appliance, having finally ceased. The door opened, flicking on the light within, and steam from the dish rolled out of the tiny space. As it cleared, dread struck the bat mare's essence, for in her direct line of sight was a truly horrifying image; a plastic container in the microwave, and it was filled with none other than her ultimate archenemy... spaghetti!

A gasp of pure horror escaped the mare's lips. She leaped up on top of her chair, sights honed in completely on the microwave and the contents inside. There it sat, reddened angel hair pasta coated in a reddish grease of leftover sauce and steaming out the top of the bowl.

The longer Halfmoon stared, the more apparent it became that something had to be done. Justice had to be served.

Cautiously, she eased off of the chair, hoof by hoof. Each and every step she took was slow and thoroughly calculated. About half way from the table to the counter, the microwave beeped thrice. Like before, the bells, louder than ever, shook the floor beneath her. Halfmoon swiftly leaped into the air and came back down with a thud, sprawled across the tiles with her hooves protecting her sensitive, tufted ears.

When the bells stopped once more, she jumped to all fours, dashing toward the microwave and snatched the bowl in her hooves, screeching incoherently the entire three feet. Her screams became more ear-piercing as the scalding heat of the container transferred to the bases of her hooves. She swung around full circle, the container slipping out of her hold mid-spin. She fell flat to the floor a second time, right as the crash of glass shattering snapped her back into reality.

Halfmoon pushed herself upright, emerald green eyes wide and staring at the window, which now had a container-shaped hole through it, surrounded by cracks. Piece by piece, shards of glass covered in sauce grease rained onto the floor below the sill, effectively causing her to wince as a result of the realization of her actions.

From behind her, Zipline had reentered the room to check on his lunch, just in time to watch it fly out the window in disbelief. Ears drooping and head dipping in disappointment, he uttered from the doorway, "My spaghetti..."
> The Cat-Burglar
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Night paced back and forth in a contemplative muse inside his personal quarters. At any rate, one would anticipate the degradation of the cobble floor's integrity, resulting in a hole being burnt through if he were to pick up the pace some.

Behind his desk stood a two-sided evidence board, wheels locked to prevent unwanted movement. Strings of reds, yellows, and blues connected an aimless web with no current coherence. Photographs taken at or near the scenes of each crime comprised of the majority of what was pinned up, and it was all Night had to work with on his own. 

Along the bottom of the board, not yet positioned anywhere, sat a collection of mugshots of widely-known criminals in or around Canterlot that could suit as potential candidates. In the assortment of seven individual pictures, only two of which were griffons whose paws might match up to the prints left in the wake of the robberies. However, it was ultimately up to their known records to determine if their pawprints were of similar or equivalent size. 

Having spent a few hours at the site of the most recent theft on both an official and personal investigation, it was to Night's stupefaction to discover just how small they were compared to the average griffon. The few hippogriffs that populated the capital did not possess the feature on their hind legs, sharing only the talons, the wings usually, and their own unique tails, so they were almost immediately ruled out as possible suspects.

Granted, it wasn't his job to do a detective's work, though he felt it gave him something to do in his free time on top of the fact that this particular case irked him more than any other; after all, this was someone or something that slipped into the most secured complex in the country. To anypony else, it should not be disregarded as anything less than a threat to national security.

For the last couple of days, what should have been an hour to two of putting together the pieces of the puzzle quickly turned into seven, eight, even nine hours of nonstop contemplations and predictions. This time spent collecting his thoughts steadily crept into his duty period and left unfiled reports piling up at his desk and quickly leading to a mindset of telling himself that he will get to it later.

While not exactly the same instance, it did give Night similar vibes to prior incidents involving unwarranted figures entering restricted sections of the palace and surrounding grounds, and even somewhat reminded him of his brief and mind-boggling encounter with a projection of a powerful magic in Baltimare some time ago. Reminiscing of that period sent a chill up the hybrid's spine, and proceeded to shove those memories to the farthest corner of his conscience.

After a solid twenty minutes of trotting back and forth, something new came to mind. The pegasus' golden cores turned over to the board on his right, swiveling himself to face it as his gaze carried over the photograph copies made for the purpose of his own investigation, as well as articles torn from local papers pinned up, interconnected with strings of red, blue, and yellow for better organization.

He narrowed his sights onto the pictures of pawprints in the various robbed locations, then to scribbled sticky notes of items stolen from every establishment. The thought of his trail leading nowhere pursed his lips downward. Sure, he had his hooves on the exact evidence as any other law enforcement agency in the region, but a spark in the Lunar captain told him he was closer than anyone else to some answers.

Then, the most obnoxious, aggravating, teeth-grinding of interruptions drew his attention away; that being the heavy banging of a hoof on the door leading into his personal quarters. Night winced some at the start of the racket, grumbling to himself incoherently as he sauntered over to find out who required his presence.

Upon opening the thick wooden door, Night's golden gaze met with the uniform enchantment blues of a snow-white pegasus belonging to palace security under the Canterlot City Guard. Stood just past his left flank was his similarly-colored companion, albeit an earth pony.

In that instance, Night waved off any annoyance to show formality. "How can I help you, Corporal?" he greeted.

Both guards threw up immediate, brief salutes, before the former answered. "Captain, we have located and neutralized an intruder within palace grounds near the entrance wing."

The hybrid's heart utterly stopped beating for a solid three seconds, a strange feeling in his chest indeed and one he hoped never to experience again. His eyes went noticeably wide in front of the two sentries, but for a good reason; this is finally over, he thought. 

"Take me to them," Night ordered sternly, taking a couple of steps through the doorway, only to have a hoof gently pressed to his chest by the corporal to halt him.

"Actually, we've brought her to you, on her demands. She claims to know you," the guard added neutrally.

"Oh, bug off, will you?! And let me see my brother!" screeched an awfully familiar voice from behind the two, before its owner made an unsuccessful attempt to shove past the statue of an earth pony blocking her. 

Laying sights upon the small mare, complete with tufted ears, delicate bluish-grey wings of a bat pony, and bright orange slit-pupiled cores, Night's breath caught. His ears pinned back flat to his skull, head recoiling at the sight. "...Dawn?!"

The mare, dwarfed in comparison to the pair of guards to have captured her, flicked a snarling glare at the earth pony as she squeezed past and pulled up short of her older sibling.

Night's eye twitched. "I—Dawn, you can't just waltz in to the Canterlot Palace and not expect any security!" He brought a hoof up to his face, smacking and shaking his head into it with a soft exhale. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, well, you see, I am in town for a little bit and thought I would drop by to see my favorite brother!" grinned Dawn, nudging his chest with her elbow.

His ear flicked at her remark. "I'm your only brother."

"For now! You never know, Mom and Dad could... you know, have another foal! Then I wouldn't be the youngest anymore!" Dawn stared at Night pensively, only to burst into laughs moments after. "As if! They are both far too old to be having foals by now."

Night blinked in silence, only acknowledging the two sentries' continued presence right then. "You two are dismissed, for now. Stay close, I might need you to remove this trespasser from my quarters at any time," he said, adding sarcasm to his tone that he hoped would catch on.

Dawn looked just a little bit offended, socking Night playfully in the chest. Either guard exchanged puzzled looks, then returned acknowledging salutes and spun around to leave them be.

It was then that Night grinned at her for the first time since arrival. "Please, you really think I would have you forcibly removed?"

"Maybe!" she squeaked. "You could have had a thousand personality changes over the months!"

Night blinked again, cocking his head. "What could possibly inaugurate such, Dawn?"

"I don't know!" Dawn threw her hoof up. "Heck, something is different about you right this second!"

Perplexed further, Night's head remained tilted to the side. "Different? How?"

"Beats me. All I know is—" That's when she paused in her speech, fixating her bright orange cores into Night's room. "Whoa, whatcha got going on in here?" queried the young bat pony mare all of a sudden.

Gently bumping past her brother without giving him a chance to answer, she trotted over to his investigation board to see for herself. "What the heck is this?" Then she gasped, snapping her gaze to him with wide eyes. "Night! Are you solving a murder mystery?!"

Night turned around, closing the door behind them with a thump of the wood against the outer jam, and the click of the lock sliding into its slot securely. "Not even close, but a good effort. I am looking into a string of robberies over the past couple of weeks, trying to decipher a culprit and perhaps his or her motive along the way."

Dawn's attention returned to the board, scanning over it thoroughly to take in the information presented. Some of it she could understand, but ultimately was above her figmental pay grade.

He strolled up beside her, continuing, "Worse yet, our suspect has breached the palace at least once. Nothing to our knowledge, however, seemed to have been taken. Not that there is a whole lot they could have gotten their hooves on in the area they snuck into."

"Paws," Dawn rejoined, staring at the photograph taken of the pawprints at one of the crime scenes. "Not a whole lot they could have gotten their paws on, big brother."

Night grumbled incoherently. "All that we know right now is that they are among a minority in Equestria. Griffons are ruled out as there are no talon marks anywhere. Hippogriffs... unlikely. My only other guess would be an evolved feline from Abyssinia."

He resumed through a deep exhale. "That leads to another problem; trade sanctions and embargoes have led to a travel ban to Equestria on behalf of the Abyssinian government, so that is highly unlikely, too. Unless someone slipped past and started a new life here—a life of crime."

Dawn flicked her attention between both the board and her older sibling. "Well, judging by all of the effort put into connecting the dots, I would say you've been on this case long enough. You look tired, big brother. Maybe you should take a break... perhaps the entire evening... and you should spend it with me!"

Night broke his focus from the evidence, glancing down at Dawn as she stared back up with begging eyes, gently and obnoxiously tugging at his hoof with hers. There was a short silence, and once did he questionably shift back to the board as he actually contemplated turning down her request. She was right, he knew that; this had been the center of his concentration for days now. It was time to cool off.


⚔


The evening rush was anything but abnormal. Past the setting sun with only colorful echoes of oranges and pinks still illuminating the distant horizon, most ponies out at this time were a part of Canterlot's early nightlife, notable by the numerous packs of marefriends hitting the town for dinner, or a late shopping spree.

Restaurants in and around the central sector of the capital packed in as many as they could seat, leaving few options for the brother and sister duo searching for a place to grab a bite to eat outside of fancy, formal-dressing, expensive establishments that haughtily turned their noses up at the clamorous bar and grilles that occupied some corners.

After searching far and wide—a half-hour fast-stroll around downtown Canterlot, more realistically—the two stumbled across Over the Barrel, an open-air restaurant baring the noble title of serving some of the most delicious homestyle cooking north of Appleloosa. Having not made a trip to the little southern town, neither could truly offer their opinion at the end of the experience.

The air surrounding Over the Barrel scented of freshly baked, butter-glazed rolls, sweet tea right out of the kettle, mashed potatoes, and barbecue sauce most predominantly, all of which seemingly the leading ingredients for the average gathering. Even the employees, from the waiters and waitresses that hopped tables to the bartender, as well as the manager that strolled about the floor to check on the satisfaction of patrons donned large rancher hats that matched their uniforms.

Music whose lyrics were incoherent to the brother and sister alike due to the loud chatter of ponies around them blasted through ceiling speakers, further adding to the apparent common atmosphere that was this particular establishment. Picture frames displaying older photographed scenes and other decorative items of western origin lined nearly every free space along the walls, quite nearly covering the worn smoky wood interior designed to also give a kind of saloon impression to the establishment.

Finding themselves quickly seated at a table set to occupy four at a time, a couple of minutes were spent thoroughly examining every flashy item on the menu, from appetizers to entrees made to feed a whole country, sparking the notion in Night's mind that the emergence of such cooking were from large settling families in the sparsely populated regions of Equestria, which was not entirely inaccurate. "So, little sister, what's new?"

The query brought a widened grin to the young mare's snout, ear to ear practically. She leaned forward on the table, pressing one hoof down while the other curled under her chin. "You always have been the curious type, huh?"

Night gave a small shrug of his shoulders. "Just want to make sure all is well in my only sibling's neck of the woods," he answered, returning his own little smirk.

Dawn nickered at that softly. "As well as the protective big brother-type. I appreciate your worry, but no fear anymore, I can hold my own nowadays. I mean, let's face it, I'm of age now, free to move about the cabin if ya catch my gist!" she said, poking her elbow at him.

A pair of gold pupils stared back, blinking once in silent bewilderment. The quiet between the two was only broken a moment later by Night's response. "Only to the first half."

The younger of the siblings rolled her eyes, dipping her head to rest on both hooves propped up on her elbows. She grinned smugly. "Never been on a flying soda can, have you, Night?"

His ear twitched, and he cocked his head. Neither have you, apparently,he commented mentally. "You mean an airplane?"

Dawn pumped her hoof forward as she remembered. "That's the word I was looking for! Yes! An airplane! How else do you think I got here, big brother?"

"By train?" Night's eyebrow lifted. He knew that, other than by airship, rail was the only mode of long-distance transportation in and out of Canterlot, and for much cheaper.

Dawn's lips curled into a frown. "Fine, you got me. But someday... someday, big brother, you shall see me soaring through the skies to far-away lands!" she exclaimed, motioning her hoof in a steady ascent.

Night rested his chin on a hoof, grinning in amusement. "You know that costs money, don't you?"

"Of course I do! Which brings me to my next announcement... drumroll, please!" Dawn squeaked, tapping her hooves along the table's edge like a drummer's sticks. "Once I am home, I begin packing for the beautiful city of Seaddle to start a new life, on my own, in one of Equestria's finest and most modern cities!"

The news hit Night somewhat hard, though not enough for her to detect. It concerned him knowing that she too was now an adult and ready to make her own decisions, and countless signals crossed in the wrong ways upon the realization of just how old he was becoming to know his little sister, a whole seven years younger, was leaving the nest. 

Still, he maintained curiosity to avoid killing her excitement. "Seaddle, huh? Why there?"

"Wide variety of jobs in the area, as well as secondary school! Or... I believe, as you cultured, civilized Equestrians call it, college!" she mocked with a hilariously inaccurate posh accent.

Celestia forbid his sister and marefriend ever formally meet, which is all but certain to happen at some point in time. They were much too alike in terms of personality, barring the flirtatious behavior that came out of the latter. If he didn't know any better and wasn't the sibling of Dawn, he would guess that they might be twins or half-blooded at the least.

"What happened to you absolutely despising school?" smirked Night, wavering off a harder-hitting portion of the worry deep inside.

Dawn's eyes widened a little, and her cheeks heated to a soft shade of pink. "Well, you see... it turns out, when you have a father that is working to pull an entire city out of the stone ages and getting up to speed on life of the average Equestrian, you also... have the curious parent who seeks new opportunities for his foal. So, what you get out of that is, well... yeah. Dad and Mom really, really want the best for me."

She only paused for a moment to take a quick swig of ice water with a touch of lime squeezed in, her absolute favorite over any other fruit a bat pony could choose. "And you see, I'm jealous of you especially because you took a leap of faith into a petrifying new world without understanding a single thing about it. You did what was best for yourself, not follow a predetermined destiny. At least, that's how it felt like according to Mom, before the reunification."

Night listened in for every word his sister had to say. He understood precisely where she came from. From a young age he acknowledged the tough life his kin and ancestors dating back a millennia were forced to endure; something somepony, he believed, should not know such horrors so early in life.

Alas, it brought strength to him knowing future generations of the colonies will only know of that relentless period from history books, and he would die a figure of revolution among his races.

"Then I can only see this move as a positive leap, not only for you but for our family," Night smiled warmly. "Any ideas on a major yet?"

Dawn leaned back into her chair, lifting the front legs off the floor and hanging one hoof over the back as she rocked gently with a hind against the center table leg. "Nah. I start with basic classes in a few weeks, curriculum policy. We get to choose the classes we want for our majors near winter break so we can begin starting second semester."

"That's understandable," Night nodded. "You'll know toward the middle of the first semester, if not sooner. Most ponies I know that have taken college courses let their first year determine their path, and you know what? Those ponies winded up successful in their own ways. You will, too."

Dawn rolled her eyes, blushing in embarrassment, letting her chair correct itself back forward with a thump. "Aw, Night, why you gotta be mushy like that? I mean, I am grateful for your support, and Caramel's, but I really am not all that."

Night's ears perked at the new name's mention, smile faltering into a look of curiosity. "Caramel? Who is that?"

The younger gasped. "Oh, right! I haven't told you about Caramel Drizzle!" A wide, toothy grin spanned ear to ear. "He's my coltfriend for two months! Really nice guy, works for his father's landscaping company in Seaddle that just so happens to service my campus."

At that, Night's physique grew discernibly tense all over, yet he regained a half-genuine smile across his muzzle. "Your coltfriend, huh? Why?" However, his response made it no further than his conscience.

Furrowing a brow at the change of posture, Dawn questioned with moderate concern in her tone, "Nighty? Are you okay?"

He jolted some, smile fading, followed by a clearing of his throat. "That-that's great!"

Dawn's eyebrow lifted higher at her big brother's curt reply. Her maw parted to speak, but was abruptly cut off by his continuation.

"I'm proud of you, Dawn. You probably hear this a ton already from our parents, but... you really are growing up so fast, it's overwhelming. Out on your own, starting a new chapter in your life. I don't know what to think of all of it." He smiled, hiding behind a curtain the sense of helplessness knowing it is no longer up to him for her protection in the real world.

Left speechless out of bewilderment, it came to Dawn's relief when their food was brought out on a wide plate across the waiter's back, ultimately breaking the ice that had become of their conversation. Upon first taste, it quickly became apparent that no more discussion would be made as soon as the mare began to figuratively inhale her dinner. It brought some amusement to Night, who actually took time to chew his food before swallowing whilst keeping vigilant for an instance where a bit of mashed potatoes may fall down the wrong tube in the chaos that was his sister's current table discipline.

After their rather filling meal, the bill came. It was handed to Dawn initially, where she opened the wine-colored booklet to find out their expenses. Her jaw dropped some upon laying eyes on the total, and slowly her slit-pupil cores raised over the top to meet her brother's stare. 

At the suspicious rising of his eyebrow, Dawn grew a sly grin across her muzzle. "Heeeeey... sooooo... I'm not exactly liquid at the moment from all of the traveling, so would you mind—"

Rolling his eyes, Night reached for his wallet to pay for their dinner, saying with a groan, "I'll get it."


⚔


Following a long, relaxing stroll through Canterlot to burn off the calories ingested at dinner, Night had dropped his sister off at her hotel. Being on the near opposite end of town, it wasn't precisely an exquisite resort as non-locals would expect to dot the capital from east to west, but also was not uncomfortable for the exploring mare.

The two exchanged their temporary goodbyes before parting ways for the night, with Dawn vowing to return the next day to bug her older brother some more. While strictly unopposed to her plans, Night acknowledged the strong possibility of his work standing between them for the remainder of his sister's stay.

Much of the Lunar Guard was stretched thin more recently, feeding the notion into Night's thoughts that he should provide some assistance to alleviate stress among his subordinates and other fellow guardponies.

In the limited time Night spent at his quarters preparing for a two-hour long patrol, he had taken a thin cloth polishing rag and wiped down his newest set of uniform armor until his face flawlessly reflected off every inch of its fine purple surface. The action mattered none in the grand scheme of things, but sometimes it took the perfectionist side of the captain an extra few minutes out of his day to fully and unnecessarily ensure his appearance was one not to trifle with.

Common procedure throughout the Royal Guard had most high ranking officers excluding their helmets in all but formal and tactical affairs, and every chance he had Night took advantage of this. Headpiece or not, any pony from the recruits to the sergeants would recognize him one way or another; few within the Guard bore the tufted ears, and fewer also presented partially discernible fangs to compliment his pegasus physique. 

Leaving his quarters at ten past nine, Night strolled his way to the lower levels of the palace, passing Skye Racer on his own looping sweep first, followed by two other somewhat familiar sentries in their much more common Lunar Guard uniforms.

All three reported similarly; no abnormalities on any of their ends, just what Night liked to hear. At the same time, a part of him was left tenser than the rest, knowing the culprit behind the break-ins had slipped under the radar at the castle especially. It was this in particular that prompted Night to perform his own check of the palace underground, near the areas where the incident occurred.

His path took him past the entry point, the floor where the mud spots had collected having long been cleaned after detectives ruled out any identifying evidence on the scene, much to their and frankly everypony else's dismay. Night took a moment out of his walk to examine the small window and the three steel bars connecting vertically through the opening.

It continued to boggle his mind just how somepony could have just slipped through without shrinking themselves first. Granted, his past experience with avid magic users made him believe such was possible, leading him to believe it was a unicorn of some sort. That still didn't give any explanation to the paw prints on every crime scene's floor, though.

As he rounded a corner that would take him through a corridor that cuts into the Canterlot Archives, something peculiar brought pause to his patrol, and his heart for that matter—the door on his right, leading into one of the archives, was wide open when it very well should be closed at all times.

Night's mind shifted into alert mode, ready for anything that might get thrown at him. His first instinct was to proceed with caution, minding every step he took down to the amount of sound produced so as to avoid spooking anyone inside. 

A small corner of his conscience warned him to be wary for it potentially being a false alarm, and that perhaps the guard often posted down here carelessly forgot to shut the door behind them, to which they would earn a much needed lesson dealt through endless shouting and reconditioning, as well as possible punishment under current circumstances.

The opened room, while somewhat lit by old wrought iron lamps surrounding the door and encompassing the outer walls, was rightfully dark at this time of the evening. Rarely did one or two of the Royal Scribes venture down here past dusk, warranting lack of lighting all hours of the day.

At first, all seemed normal upon initial inspection of the opening walkway, looking out into a city of shelves filled neatly with a wide assortment of Equestria's most prized books and scrolls written at and even before the founding of the nation. 

Then, something caught in the corner of his eye: a hooded figure, partially shadowed by the dark of the dimly-lit aisle, rustled an arm into wooden bins and sorted through its once-tidy contents.

The first thing he noticed was their obtrusively noticeable coat color—solid yellow. The wings folded to their sides determined immediately that he or she was a pegasus. Something about this pony in particular, however, struck Night as odd. They lacked hooves, and though all four limbs resembled the structure of a normal pony's, the bases were... paws?

Night blinked, doing so as assurance that he was not insane. His next move was to approach slowly, making use of the soft noises made by this creature shuffling through items in that bin to mask the faint clicks of his hooves along the old cobble floor.

He continued to observe the intruder in silence, coming up on their left at the foot of the aisle. It struck him in his mind as peculiar, knowing any burglar with such experience as displayed throughout the capital over the past weeks would at least be aware of their surroundings, especially the faint shadow Night cast over the figure as the lamp on the wall on his six o'clock silhouetted him. Perhaps they did acknowledge his presence, but simply did not care.

Just as Night reached for his side to produce a pair of cuffs in preparation to take the intruder down, the hooded head turned his way. "What are you going to do with those?"

The soft voice caught the hybrid somewhat by surprise, eyes widening and gaze lifting to meet the tip of the yellow muzzle sticking out from under the hood, the only facial feature visible at this point.

"What do you think? Surely if you had any authorization to be down here doing what you are currently doing, I would not be about to cuff and take you in for questioning," replied Night.

One paw reached up, drawing back the hood to uncover the face, a move Night most definitely did not expect from what he could assume is a professional criminal. The figure sported the head of a stallion, feline ears, and a black mane with azure eyes. To Night, this was either a fine work of magic, or he was some sort of hybrid, too.

"So, you're the pony behind the recent store break-ins," Night uttered, unsure how to properly address the male.

"That would be me!" he said with glee to his tone, flicking his ear with a smile. His enthusiasm was moderately puzzling to Night, and it left him on an edge.

His brow then raised out of genuine curiosity. "How for the love of all things good did you even get in here? I know you entered through a window, but each one in this level of the palace is reinforced with steel bars two inches thick! So... how?"

"Oh, that? I just squeezed right through, no biggie!" the cat... pony... thing... responded, giving a toothy grin. When he saw the dumbfounded expression on Night's countenance grow with even more bewilderment. "Was it not part of your culture to determine that us felines are equivalent to liquid when it comes to... anything?"

If that was meant to be any popular media reference, it flew right over Night's head. No, it missed him by miles. His continued confusion made the cat-pony roll his eyes.

Then, the intruder did something else he did not expect. "The name's Gear, nice to meet you!" he introduced, taking Night's hoof to shake it with his paw before returning to his work. That was most certainly a first in his career, not that he often faced criminals in the act personally.

Night's next instinct was to check his hoof, though protected by the shoes of his armor, for any potentially lethal substances laced onto the paw used. It seemed out of this character's nature to harm others based on first impression and past acts, but that could easily change.

"I presume this is the second instance you have been down here?" said Night, sticking to small talk for right now in hopes of making him slip once or twice.

Gear shook his head without removing his focus from where his paws were searching. "Oh, heavens, no! First time was a scouting run to learn my way around so I could find what I am looking for this evening, and perhaps another night if need be."

That brought a chuckle out of Night. "Another night? No, no. That isn't going to happen."

"Of course it will! What, do you think I'm only walking out of here a jailbird? Hell no! I am a free feline," cooed Gear.

Then his demeanor took a sudden shift. The cat-pony suddenly extended a paw over to the shelf beside him, taking a clawful of older archive scrolls. He only took a glance at their outer labels added for sorting through, tossing each one aside carelessly until one was left in his hold. "Aha, here it is! The answers we were both looking for!" he mewled.

Night blinked, puzzled by Gear's remark. "What are you on about? Among us two, you are the only one who seems to be raiding Canterlot's treasured history vault."

"You are here, too!" Gear nickered to himself. "That would make you a raider, as well!"

"The difference is I actually withhold some level of security clearance down here," scowled Night. "What about you?"

"Then you can tell your guard buddies that you showed me down here, no biggie!" Gear said, flicking his tail, tucking the scroll away into his saddlebags. What was it with him saying that twice now? 

"Well, it's been real, and it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun... yet. Ta-ta!" he waved, zipping away in a yellow blur out through the only possible exit, and that was the door where they both entered.

In that moment, Night shifted into overdrive, immediately engaging in pursuit. Out of the archives and around two corners, Gear took a strong lead heading for the upper levels of the palace to make an escape.

At first, the yellow cat-pony did not acknowledge the night guard's proximity. When he did some fifteen seconds after dashing away, his first move of defense was a small vial removed from his saddlebags and tossed with a strong arm at the wall, shattering upon impact and spilling a spreading, sparkling cloud into the captain's direct path.

Night hacked and coughed as he blew through the sapphire dust, closing his eyes to shield them as it burned away at his cores and left them watering heavily at every blink. His pace, however, slowed none as he kept up chase.

He moved as quick as a feline, too, much to Night's immediate chagrin. Many bat ponies were naturally faster on their hooves than most Equestrians, but the thief outpaced him decently enough to pull away effortlessly, even as he was chased out of familiar corridors. Perhaps it was the effects of Gear's apparent collection of potions clinking about in his bags, concocted by the ingredients stolen over time.

It was at this time that Night wished he could swap bodies with Thunder. Some aspect of him made him fast as lightning in certain instances; perchance it was the bolt he was struck by merely a year following his initiation into the Guard that had magically restored his flight capabilities previously hampered by injury.

Gear only took a split second to halt when a pair of sentries patrolling the main wing of the palace pulled out just ahead of him, having not yet realized what was happening until he leaped up and crashed through one of the castle's many stained glass windows. 

He landed hard, stumbling down to the ground but immediately rolling himself back up onto all fours, leading himself out into the dew-dampened gardens.

Without hesitation, Night flapped his wings once to propel him through the hole made by the former, landing hooves first in the grass with a thump. A light film of sweat slicked the bat-pegasus' forehead as his pursuit carried on, weaving between ponds and shrubs, flower patches and benches.

Then, at long last, their chase came to an abrupt halt, and for good reason. Gear's paws skidded twenty feet, claws digging into the dirt to swiftly bring himself to a stop just short of the cliff that marked the edge of Canterlot, and the beginning of a drop many thousands of feet into a cloudy abyss.

Night managed to be much quicker in his braking, pulling up some six feet behind the cat-pony catching his breath in soft heaves. "It's over, Gear! You have no place to go, unless your plan all along was to steal from the castle for final satisfaction of yourself!"

The hooded head turned over his shoulder, smirking back at the Zodiac captain smugly. "Oh, goodness, no! I would not ever dream of killing myself, although you are right about my plan! All I needed was to distract you from your duties long enough for my partner to slip inside and finish the job!"

At his claims, Night felt his heart sink as part of his mind urged him to hurry back, but it was the leader in him that wanted answers first. "Finish the job? What did you do?!"

Gear mewled with soft laughter. "Why, pay the princess a little visit, of course! One not so easily established via traditional means. But hey, I had fun on this little game of cat and mouse we played. Shall we do it again some other time?"

The razor-sharp fangs in Night's maw bared threateningly, and the fur on his back stood up under the inner cushioning of his armor, solidifying his anger for this thief. "You bastard, if you or anypony else dare imperil the princess, my princess, you best hope it isn't me who catches you!"

Without giving Gear a chance to respond, the captain lunged forward swiftly with a strong pump of his wings to propel him. The yellow cat-pony, taken aback by his imminent arrest, shifted his demeanor into panic mode. To avoid capture, he whipped a paw in and out of his bags, once more catching Night by surprise with yet another smoke bomb that engulfed the two instantly. 

This time, a couple of seconds into coughing up a storm, Night made use of his wings to disperse the cloud encompassing him and perform a long overdue takedown.

However, that would not come to pass. What took the thief's place in the smog's clearing was a small square leather bag with a single long strap made to loop around one's shoulder, more than likely dropped to shed not only excess weight but to prevent Gear's wings from being obscured and hampering his flight, should he have dropped off the mountain and immediately flew into hiding below the clouds.

It worked some in Night's favor, though. Upon picking up the small sack, it was already evident by weight of the contents within that tracking him down just got much simpler for the Guard.

"Captain!" called a deep voice from behind. Mindset remaining in a highly alert mode, he whipped around and took up a defensive stance, easing his posture only upon discovery that the voice belonged to a fast-approaching Duskbloom, descending to land himself before his superior.

"Lance Corporal," addressed Night through a breath. "You were following me?"

"Only when I noticed you race out of a fire escape," the light grey bat stallion responded, clicking the shaft of his issued spear onto the cobblestone as he put himself into a partial attentive attitude.

The captain went no further to question his subordinate for his answer was within reason. "The good news is, we know who our alchemy burglar is."

"And he got away?" Dusk's head cocked slightly.

Night grunted softly, nodding. "That is no longer our primary concern. The princesses are; and they are in potential danger as we speak. You and I are to return to the palace at once for a thorough sweep, that goes for all Zodiacs."