Afterdark
Chapter 24: [Intermission] Nightshade
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The next day dawned quite early for everypony. Around town many ponies had gathered at the main streets to wait for a parade of mourning. Nightshade, Tops, Bruiser, and Midnight had found themselves among the other Night Guard, who were currently already residing in a shady part of the castle courtyards. With the exception of Captain Lunar and two other guards, none of the other bats would be present during the parade or speeches about those who had lost their lives. Celestia had asked for their presence to be kept minimal, putting them in the most estranged corner of the grounds.
Behind her helmet, Web was biting her lip and sneering around at the bright rays of the sun, clearly very unhappy about being out during the day. Somehow, Captain Lunar had been able to force her to come, although whether she was physically dragged out to the ceremonies or just too scared to not follow Lunar's orders was a matter of conspiracy.
Nightshade had been the first to note Reddling's lack of appearance, although Midnight and Tops had been the first two to vocalize it. None of them were able to figure out why he wasn't there, but Web had been quick to volunteer to fetch him.
Moments turned to minutes, minutes to hours as the Night Guard took their seats, preparing to listen to speeches from Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and the Captain of the Royal Guard. Lunar had decided to forgo speaking, most likely to keep his helmet of anonymity on.
Web did not return as the ceremonies dragged on. When at last the scene had concluded and the more important ponies had entered into Canterlot Castle's halls, Most of the Night Guard left with shrugs to each other, wondering why those two had believed themselves special enough to skip a public event honoring the Royal Guard and those who had fallen in battle. Trotting towards their barracks, Midnight let out a sigh behind the group before they plunged into the darkness of the shared room.
"They never mentioned the Night Guard in that speech." Midnight said hushedly, removing his armor and preparing for bed. None of the others gave him an answer- silence was the only acknowledgement for such a cold fact.
Nightshade was reading the evening paper in the mess hall. Normally, Canterlot did not have interesting murder news, but the report of a quadruple homicide had struck the city as odd. In the face of such death and destruction that they had witnessed over the last few days, a few more deaths didn't mean anything to the police or guard. It was rather the manner and targets of the deaths that the tabloids and Nightshade both seemed to find equally appealing. Four ponies had all turned up dead- three of whom appeared to have died from accidents- although the papers claimed otherwise to sensationalize the news.
The papers of Canterlot, instead of believing that perhaps three ponies had just died from freak accidents within a few minutes of each other, had instead concocted an outlandish story of some bloodthirsty assassin prowling the streets of Canterlot. Four traders from Silverfield had been in town today to sell some goods from the south when they were picked off one by one. First a mare had fallen from a tower, crashing face first into hard rocks below in a gory display. Second was a stallion believed have had an allergic reaction to something in his shower water. The third to die had apparently died from an accidental crossbow shot. Finally, the last one to die had had their neck sliced out with a large knife that was really closer to a machete.
Nightshade shook her head a little, reading through the paragraphs once more to make sure she had not missed anything. The first three truly could have been freak accidents, but they still had connections to the one confirmed homicide. There was a picture that had been forming in her head for some time now, and the main subject of it revolved around...
"So uh, ...Reddling?" Tops' voice pulled Nightshade back to her surroundings. She was only a few feet away from a couple of lovely armchairs that Tops and Reddling had seated themselves in.
"What?" Reddling cold, chilly voice cut back. Nightshade didn't even bat an eye at the nihilistic foreigner. Reddling had a bad twitch that would tend to manifest itself in his ear or nose, and this habit made it unbearable for Nightshade to speak with him. He always seemed to be holding something back, even when she knew he was telling the truth about something.
"I've been thinking..." Tops said, clearly uncomfortable. Nightshade rolled her eyes behind the paper, sure of what was going to be coming next. She half considered cutting Tops off before he got going.
"I think a lot too," Reddling said sarcastically, closing his eyes and leaning back. "What a great hobby we have in common? But- what is on your mind?" The last sentence was more serious as Reddling opened a single eye, leaning closer.
"I uh- well, I was thinking about changing my name..." Tops said sheepishly.
"This again..." Nightshade hissed to herself.
Reddling ignored her as he raised his hooves to his face, rubbing it gently before sending Nightshade a distasteful look. "Oh, have you now? I can't say I've heard any good Equestrian names, so I don't blame you..."
"What're you changing it too?" Reddling added hastily.
"I uh- I don't know." Tops said. "A lot of ponies change their names when they join the Night Guard. They just don't fit anymore, you know?"
"Nightshade, Bruiser, Midnight Tales, Tree Tops, Reddling Rain, Web Weaver." Reddling counted out quietly. "Yeah, we really stick out, huh?"
"Heck, sometimes even their cutie marks change." Tops continued.
"I see..." Reddling said, turning his head down to begin brooding on the subject at hand. Nightshade was not supposed to remember things from other ponies dreams, but as much as she tried to force herself to forget accidental invasions of privacy, it was difficult. She still had a disposition towards Reddling that kept her on edge. If his aloof behaviour and accent was not enough to cast him as being an eccentric even among the Night Guard, than surely whatever he was thinking would.
"Tops, your name is fine." Nightshade said, moving closer to them putting down her newspaper.
Reddling coughed under his breath, looking over at Nightshade with a glint in his grey eyes. "She likes your non-moody, non-batty name, Tops."
"I don't know..." Tops continued, 'I was thinking Nightwing or something like that would be better." On saying the newly proposed name, Tops stood up, striking a heroic pose by puffing his chest out and looking towards the ceiling proudly. across from Nightshade, Reddling slammed the palm of his hoof into his forehead.
"That's a stupid name." Nightshade said pointedly
"Yeah, like Nightshade is any better..." Tops replied. Nightshade could feel a little heat rise to her face at that comment as she rounded on him.
"My name is fine, it's not like I picked it myself." Nightshade hissed.
Reddling smiled for a few moments, but quick as a blown lightbulb, his face returned to a somber tone as he turned away, not looking at either Tops nor Nightshade.
"At least you had someone to give you a name, Nightshade. You're luckier than some." Reddling said quietly.
"What... do you mean by that?" Tops asked, leaning on his chair to look over at Reddling, who was still refusing to look at either Tops or Nightshade.
"Exactly what I said, I've already picked one name in my life." Reddling replied huffily.
"Your parents didn't name you?" Nightshade asked. There was a small hint of a smile forming on her lips as she began to understand. Parents that didn't even care enough to name their child probably were not very great at parenting either, which might explain her partner's total lack of interpersonal social skills.
"I've mentioned my family before, how many have I mentioned?" Reddling asked. His voice was so quiet that Nightshade had to lean forward to make sure she understood everything he said. The red pony's face was a stone cold, icy stare filled with loathing, each line of malice pointed in her direction.
"Your nephew." Nightshade replied simply. It was the truth, Reddling was very secretive about what he actually did. Lots of ponies joined the Night Guard to leave a life behind, but they still held memories of their life before the guard. The black sheep of Nightshade's circle was certainly brooding on these memories, but she'd rather be damned than spend any longer than she had to trying to dig something worthwhile out of him.
All he ever mentions is that nephew of his, Rainy. Doesn't mention any other family members, no uncles or aunts, brothers or sisters, no parents- Nightshade shrunk back a bit as her heart sank. Blinking slowly and standing up, she drew herself closer to the two stallions.
"Reddling..." Nightshade started.
"I don't want to hear it." Reddling replied, looking away again.
Nightshade shook her head. She didn't mean to sound like she was pitying Reddling, but what else could she do in this situation. "Reddling, what happened?"
"I don't know, I don't question it. That's just how it is." Reddling said, standing up and moving for the door huffily. Tops and Nightshade exchanged glances. Nightshade rolled her eyes at her coltfriend, nodding to him as he stood up to go chase down Reddling.
He's always so twitchy. Ever since that dumb rock game, I've noticed there is something odd about him. How does a pony switch from being kind, if withdrawn, to being a complete psychopath the next? Reddling wasn't at the ceremony today, and I'll bet he had something to do with those killings. Maybe Web had him do it, she can get him to do anything.
And what about Web? Why is Reddling so attached to her- if you can call it that. Is he hypnotized? What're the two of them up too? Someday I'm going to prove there's a big conspiracy here... I just hope it's before something bad happens. Nightshade looked down, closing her eyes and blocking out the thoughts of Reddling's dreams. It took a lot of work to block these things out, but Nightshade followed the rules. Even if what she knew put Princess Luna herself in danger, she'd have to prove it without anything she gleamed from somepony's dreams.