An unknown sensation

Twilight awoke alone.

She wondered where Midnight might be, but there was only one place she'd find her dark blue mane if not in the library. Much to Twilight's appreciation, she found that her symptoms had lessened in comparison to the day before.

She felt confident that she'd be strong enough to start going back to her normal routine without many problems.

When she reached Ponyville's clinic, or more accurately, the house filled with a dozen beds and a nurse's office, Twilight peeked into the main room first to scout the situation.

Almost all beds were taken with ponies squirming around in them. The Nurse ran from bed to bed, doing various duties. Midnight was nowhere to be seen, however.

Twilight decided to slip in.

"Oh, not another pony needing treatment! Alright, focus. What's wrong, dear? Are you missing anything?" The nurse pony's voice shifted through various tones in a surprising amount of time.

"I'm fine, thank you..." Twilight's stomach reminded her of the opposite, but she remained strong. "I'm missing somepony though. Do you know where your assistant is? I'd like to talk to her."

"The unicorn? I think she went to the back of the house to grab more supplies... Uh?"

Twilight was about to ask what the earth pony had noticed, when she heard something herself.

"Looking for me?"

The unexpected voice behind her made Twilight jump. Turning around, she saw an unicorn slowly fade into visibility.

She should have seen that coming. Midnight had freshly graduated, after all.

"Sorry for not being there to welcome you to the day, Sparkle. If you feel you need more care, you're welcome to take one." Midnight teased Twilight with a grin she had learned to love and hate, indicating a free bed.

"I'm fine!" A sudden headache forced Twilight to bend in pain, as if to correct her. "Although I have to admit it's still getting the best of me..."

"Well, let's get to work. There has been a sudden breakout in Ponyville and us two are rather busy. What can I help you with?"

Twilight was about the answer, a short cough swallowing her sentence. The Nurse pushed her into her office, "Not to interrupt you, but those ponies are off bad enough by themselves. Why don't you talk... over there?"

Midnight knew there was no arguing with the Nurse. So she simply opened the door to the office and followed them inside.

She sighed, annoyed from the Nurse's behaviour, but glad for some privacy. Twilight looked like she felt the same.

"At last. Now, what brings my patient here in such a state?"

Twilight attempted to remember what she had wanted to talk to Midnight about. Her eyes widened when she realised there was nothing and tried to quickly make up an excuse.

Midnight misread the signs and began a sentence of her own.

"Listen, about last night..."

It was done. She had forgotten that Twilight had already been asleep when she did what she did. Midnight panicked a little.

"Huh? What about last night?" Twilight searched her memory, trying to find out what had happened then. Either she couldn't remember due to her disease, or...

"Nothing. I should stop interrupting you." Midnight's best bet now was to force Twilight's subject and hope she could make her crush forget what had slipped out of her.

Twilight decided against pushing the subject further. A vague idea of what could have happened dawned in her head.

Gaining courage from what she believed had happened, Celestia's personal student wanted to tell the truth that had just appeared in her head. What was the worst thing that could happen? Apart from losing her as a friend foreeveerr.

Twilight gulped and finally began the sentence both ponies wanted to shout out. "I just realised, whenever I wake up, my first impulse is to get to you, to hear your voice. Gosh, this sounds stupid... I think I love you!"

Shocked at what had just come out of her, Twilight held her mouth shut with both her forehooves. As if in a cartoon, she realised that she'd need those for support, and tumbled downwards to the floor, tears dripping out of her eyes.

This was it. Midnight would never want to be with her after this confession. She had ruined everything. The stream of tears from her shut eyes intensified.

Somepony pulled her up. Twilight opened her eyes, able to make out a blur of purple and blue in front of her. If her eyes hadn't been so filled with tears, Twilight could have seen the occasional tear running down Midnight's cheeks.

Before Twilight could do as much as open her mouth, Midnight pulled her close into a constricting embrace.

After Midnight broke the embrace, Twilight stumbled backwards. The pain she had previously suppressed with either willpower or the adrenaline that came from her 'talk' with Midnight came back all at once. The unprepared unicorn nearly passed out.

"Midnight, dear, where are you? I need you!" The Nurse came into her office, unaware of what had just happened.

"Coming!" Midnight set off towards the door. Twilight turned and was about to follow her friend, when she briefly lost balance due to another wave of pain. She was mentally prepared, but it was still intense.

"No offense, but you look terrible. Are you sure you don't want to stay?"

Twilight realised she was worse than she had thought. She could barely hold the liquid in her nostrils. Her legs were wobbly and could barely hold her. Her sore throat was clearly audible in her voice and she regularly lost her voice halfway through a sentence.

Not to mention her stomach or head, both of which were dampening her mental capabilities with pain.

Midnight beat her to answering. "Don't try Nurse, this pony wouldn't accept help if she'd be lying in the mud from pain."

She adressed Twilight. "We'll talk more later. Don't stay on your hooves all the time. Have plenty of liquid. There should be some leftover 'tea'. Drink it." Her horn glowed. "Finish this one." She prepared a teleportation spell to Twilight's home, passing it over for her friend to execute the last portion.

"For your information, I know those herbs Fluttershy brought." Twilight said.

"I know you do. That's why you have to drink the rest."

After the sick unicorn had teleported away, Midnight finally turned back to the main room and went to assist the Nurse in patient care. "Before you ask; Blue Thistle."

"Ah, yes. A very good cure for such cases. Especially when the pony tries to refuse treatment. A very good cure indeed."

After a busy day of handling a small epidemy, Midnight technically didn't want to treat any more sick ponies. But this was different. Despite Twilight's state and her official motive for the visit, she didn't come to her patient, but to her marefriend.

Like earlier that day, Twilight was asleep when Midnight came in, an open book lying near her, together with a tea set. Only this time, the librarian had preferred sleeping in her bed, instead of lying in the main room where the matress was still lying, closer to the books but less comfortable.

Midnight didn't want to wake her up. So she just brought up the matress and blanket from below and laid down onto the floor, next to her love.

The sound of Twilight's breathing made her feel incredibly comfortable. This was all she wanted. She turned to lie on her side and fell asleep seconds later, after catching a final glimpse of the unicorn.

"Oh no. Not this place again." Twlight found herself on the same hill she had dreamt of when receiving the last visions.

"What? Not happy to see me?" Glimmer had once again shown her face. "I know what we're thinking. Midnight now took my place didn't she?" There was a hint of disappointment in her voice. Once Twilight's biggest desire, the pegasus had to make room in her heart to let in a certain unicorn.

"You waited too long to show up, I guess. Sorry."

"Did you ever love me?"

"I still do! It's just that... I still don't know if you even exist and Midnight came first to claim my heart." Tears ran down her hot cheeks. "I'm sorry..."

"Now, don't you cry in front of your love, will you?"

"Uh?"

"Smartest pony in Equestria and doesn't know her own mind. You're lovely."

"Get out of my mind!" Twilight closed her eyes and turned away. She only wanted to escape the situation.

"I AM your mind, Sparkle."

Hearing herself call her that way made Twilight pause, but she remained resolute, her back turned, tears still running.

She stopped when the other pony suddenly drew her in for a kiss. She tried to resist, but when she opened her eyes, she had no option but to accept.

In front of her was no longer the pegasus animated by a future vision, but Midnight herself.

"How is this possible again?"

"Well, according to some legends we studied in Equestrian history, this is something like a common subconscious. You created it when you needed a place for Glimmer to materialise, an environment that you could recreate."

"So it's magic?"

"Yes. But an ancient one. This is an open environment to accept influences like visions, but also the spirits of ponies closely linked to you..."

"You are the real Midnight, right? What number am I thinking of?"

"Two and a half." She watched with delight as her friend's jaw dropped. "What? I've always been good at guessing your intentions, you know that."

Twilight simply knew it was her.

"So, what did you want to tell me?"

Midnight giggled and repeated her signs of affection from the night before to Twilight, only this time on a conscious unicorn.