An unknown sensation

Twilight was back on the examination table, lying flat on her stomach, one hoof stretched out. Her marefriend was examining it.

"Coming along nicely. Now, this might burn, so brace yourself."

Twilight did not expect what came. She was adept in repressing pain in order to work, but that was over the limits, even with all her focus on it.

The spell Midnight cast to mend her hoof made it feel like it would be submerged in lava. Twilight felt her senses dim as a reaction and nearly cried out, but before she could, the nurse was finished.

"You never see it coming. Good news is, I managed to get it correctly healed first try."

"Why didn't you do this the day I broke it?"

"Blood vessels and nerves, that's why. Nopony knows how they'd have to be connected, and even if I knew, it'd take minutes to heal them because I'd have to do every one by itself. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

"I suppose..." Twilight tried to rise, but achieved nothing except for nearly falling off the table.

"Stay down. That spell's not exactly without side effects."

Twilight groaned as she watched her friend step out into the main room to see if the Nurse needed assistance.

Always there to help, never to hurt.

Twilight sighed. Of course she had to ruin that moment of finally being healthy again.

"You know, I've been making some progress on that brain altering spell I searched for. You better have something to tell me or I'll test it."

Charming as always. Good thing I know you haven't. But, as a matter of fact, there's something relevant. It was really hard to find under all of those frames of you eating or sleeping.

"What is it?"

Why don't you see for yourself?

Twilight's mind was filled with a single picture. She felt exhausted. Around her were apple trees ready for bucking. She felt enraged and tired in her hindlegs. Applejack was, strangely, not bucking with her, but lying in the grass.

"That's applebucking season. Looks like Applejack overworked herself again and needs our help. But why am I so mad at something? Is she exploiting our help?"

Twilight spoke much louder than she had wanted to.

I don't know. That's all you have. But I thought it was worth showing anyway. Oh, and good luck explaining.

Realisation dawned to Twilight as her mind returned into reality. Midnight had come back into the room, her jaw dropped.

"Okay... Don't worry, the spell may cause hallucinations by itself and you went through some pain there. I'm sure if you have plenty of rest, it'll go away."

"No! It's not like that! You see... I can see the future. Really! It's a gift thought extinct some centuries ago. One of the last known scryers was in my family."

"Should have expected that. But why were you talking to yourself?"

"Well, I receive much more visions than I could use or handle. That's a known problem. So a part of my brain, receiving the visions, has split off into another personality. But it's not really another, it's more of my original personality."

"So now you've got a copy of yourself in your brain that tells you about what you really need to know?"

"Basically. But I wasn't always the pony I am now. So Glimmer's pretty sarcastic. She also promoted herself to my personal advisor."

"I think I understand. Must be pretty bad to disagree with yourself, huh?"

"You have no idea." I am the smarter of us two, listen to me! "No you're not."

"Uh?"

"Sorry. Glimmer has a pretty big ego. Sometimes I have to prove her wrong."

"Just where did she get that... Listen, I will make up for it!"

"What? You really don't have to apologise for that, you're somewhat right about it."

"No, I mean, what happened to you, and how I wasn't there to watch you."

"Oh, that's alright, I enjoy spending a day with my friends."

Didn't they teach you not to lie? "Didn't they teach you not to lie?" Both Glimmer and Midnight said at the same time. Twilight wasn't surprised. It was the nearly psychic Midnight, after all.

"Ok, so I hated being completely useless like that, but that's not your fault."

"I should have been there. I should have made sure my love is safe and happy. I should have..."

Midnight jumped towards her, a single tear running down her cheek. Twilight couldn't read her movements, but quickly found herself not caring, muzzle to muzzle with the other unicorn.

"I see."

"We're still in love, right?" Midnight tried to joke, but the drop her voice performed made it just sad.

"How could we ever not be?"

The waiter pony brought the unicorns their orders.

"Don't you think that's a little romantic?"

"Aw, nothing too romantic for our first proper date"

"First date? Not like we've been together for so long already now..."

It was no use. Midnight had insisted on coming here. Half Ponyville knew something was going on between those two unicorns anyway, so they didn't try to hide it anymore.

Hey, boss!

"You had to show up right now, didn't you. What's the matter?" Twilight could resist whispering, but Midnight recognised how she dropped into concentration, powerfully thinking to communicate with herself without saying the words out loud.

"Glimmer again, right?"

Twilight groaned. She still disliked her own mind, but at least it did a good job at filtering visions.

"Yes."

"Enjoy yourself." There was nothing to do about it if her marefriend received a relevant vision, and Midnight knew that.

The smile that slowly crept on her friend's face as she viewed the vision Glimmer had to show her made Midnight curious about what it could be.

After Twilight's eyes regained focus, Midnight couldn't hold back.

"What did you see?"

"Oh, nothing. Just... a glance of this year's Nightmare night. It will be wonderful."

"Alright then."

Liar.

Midnight had somehow managed to get the rest of the day off and spend it on a wonderful first date with Twilight. The vision the lavender unicorn had received had fulfilled on that same day.

Once again, she had slipped out of the bed while letting Twilight sleep and made breakfast.

Today would be special in more than one way, she thought. First, they'd call in craftsponies to erect a few walls, splitting off a small room where Spike would get a room for himself.

Second, Midnight would move in with Twilight! So far, they'd both been too shy to admit their relationship openly, let alone move together, but they'd do both today.

As the medical pony she was, Midnight knew that things were best handled quickly and painlessly. Thus, the two unicorns inspired a certain pink earth pony to do a 'Spring is finally here and Twilight and Midnight have something to say'-picnic.

"And you don't wanna tell me what you have to say?"

"If we did, you wouldn't need to come to the picnic. And you don't want to miss out on it, do you?"

The unicorns watched as Midnight's simple logic worked it's way through Pinkie's party focused mind. It took little more than the right triggers to outsmart her.

"Makes sense. Okie dokie, I'll see you there!" She happily bounced off.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash had finally returned from their honeymoon, so now the unicorns could get all of Twilight's friends at once. They figured that word would spread by itself from those five ponies.

They sat on the blanket. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had already arrived, but Fluttershy took her time. Pinkie Pie went to look if something was wrong at her cottage. While she was there, she could remind Rarity to come. That unicorn tended to get stuck in her work rather often.

All of a sudden, Applejack burst into laughter. Three ponies gave her confused looks.

"Aw, c'mon y'all. Ya don' think ya can hide somthin' like that from me, right?"

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, Applejack." Twilight was the first to speak

"Y'all remind me so much of RD an' me jus' some months ago."

The two ponies to confess their love exchanged a look. There was no point arguing. Applejack would know if they lied, anyway.

"That's what you get for inviting a couple including the element of honesty to a confession picnic, I suppose." Midnight spoke out what they were both thinking.

"Aww, don' sweat it, now. Ya can still tell the others yourself, Ah promise."

"Honestly?" Rainbow Dash was hovering two meters above the rest, teasing her lifepartner.

"Bet yer pretty flank on it!"

After some time, Pinkie came back, followed by Fluttershy and Rarity.

"I'm sorry Twilight, I was feeding the animals and got just soo lost, I mean, their cute little ears and paws and..."

"We get the idea, dear. Now that we're assembled, shall we begin?"

Midnight had showed off a new trick to her friends, which included seemingly detaching her head and swapping it with another object. Her friend had played around with it since. She looked up to Twilight, expressing one question "Tell them?"

The look Twilight returned said just one thing perfectly. "Later."

"Eek!"

Fluttershy had spotted Twilight's toy. It did look rather bizarre. Both of the unicorns cooperated  to dispel the illusion. After regaining the head that had never actually left Midnight's body, she quickly stood up to apologise to the pegasus.

"Sorry. Illusion magic can be pretty scary sometimes, right?"

Out of instinct, Fluttershy's wings were already extended, but she managed to calm down instead of fleeing since she was together with her best friends.

She gave an embarassed chuckle.

With the situation handled, everypony just settled down and started enjoying the picnic. When the basket was half empty, Twilight raised her voice to get the secret off her heart.

"Alright now, you're probably wondering why we're assembled here, apart from celebrating the work of the weather pegasi."

Pinkie interrupted her. "Oh! Oh! Does it have something to do with you and your new friend here?"

"Oh, for goodness'! Did everypony go psychic?"

The sudden outburst from Twilight made everyone go silent. As she realised that something with Midnight was simply the most likely thing, she calmed down and began her speech again.

"Erm, sorry. As a matter of fact, it DOES have something to do with Midnight. You see, when we first met, we were both nothing more than simple scholars, waiting to do their final exam. After we did that, we both noticed something more was going on between us than just helping each other study magic."

"When she found you in all of Canterlot, looking totally different from how she knew you?" Rainbow Dash remembered what had happened that special evening.

"Love always finds it's way, Dash."

Four jaws dropped simultaneously. Applejack and Rainbow Dash tried their best to feign surprise, but were outclassed by the reactions Twilight and her unknowing friends did. Twilight had not intended to say it this way and was shocked at how easily she had slipped something.

"That's..."

"I'm..."

"Yay!" Fluttershy was first to find an appropriate reaction, even if it was just her quiet cheer. She had been the one that borrowed Twilight those books, afterall.

"So now ya two are, like, 'fficially in love?" Applejack tried to break the ice. It appeared to work.

"Oh, you just NEED something better to put on. Do you really show Midnight your love like that? Meet me at the Boutique for..."

"A party! I mean, sure there's this picnic here, but that's not really a celebration worth of the occasion! I sure hope I still have those heart shaped balloons..." Pinkie had interrupted Rarity, the sentences flowing from her mouth in an instant.

Handled with endless grace as always.

"Didn't I say you should be quiet unless there's something to report for the better of both of us?" Twilight thought to herself. It still took some concentration, so the other ponies noticed.

"Er, Twi', what's wrong?"

Oh look, your friends are not as stupid as you'd think.

"Shut up! Midnight, would you?" Twilight thought the first sentence, then said the second out loud.

The lady gives one of her unimportant servants time with her. I am impressed.

"Vision or it didn't happen."

If you wish...

While Twilight had laid back down, eyes shut, Midnight took the task of explaining what was happening to the corious ponies.

"Now, this might look scary, but she's fine. You see, some ponies can see the future in short, uncontrollable bursts."

"Like my Pinkie sense?" The pink mare's tail twitched right after, making her look up, open her mouth to catch a dropping muffin, and call up into the sky, "Thanks Ditzy!"

"Kinda. When it happens, she feels like she'd be directly in the situation she's having a vision of. Now, that's some dangerous magic, so all scryers have a little somebody in their mind to help them sort through all of the glimpses so they can live their lives and differ visions from pure fantasy."

"So when she's all focused like that, it's talking to her?"

"Yes. As far as I know, it's a female pegasus that has named itself Glimmer."

Rarity's eyes widened. "Er, I think I have something to show Twilight later. Now that I think of it, are all visions that long?"

Six pairs of eyes turned to Twilight. She was still lying on her stomach, eyes shut. Midnight was first to make a move.

"Breathing... normal. Heart rate... around forty. She's fallen asleep."