Splitting aMid the Night

Awaken, my child, and embrace the glory that is your birthright.

Midnight groaned. Noon had given her a bit more respect since she had found out she could reduce Noon's influence. That didn't stop the inner demon from being sarcastic, sadly.

Can't I let myself sleep in when I want to?

Apparently, no. I have a gift for you, princess. You can try it out at school. Which is a point you should already hurry not to arrive late to.

At last it was recess. Or, to be exact, that recess-like break around 10 AM that was longer than the others by just a bit. Midnight resumed her usual sitting place. Not too far off and in good line of sight so she could observe everything and be approached easily by her friends, but also meditate, more or less, undisturbed. There was a crowd of ponies out, as usual. It was surprisingly warm for that it was still winter. Despite their age, many of them seemed to have a bit too much fun running around the open space like they were the small foals they'd been when entering the school. Sparkle had explained to her that had something to do with pegasi importing air from the south and letting it rain out over the plains, then drift further north to Canterlot. Midnight hadn't really listened. Climatology had never been interesting for her. And there had been other things demanding her attention on the unicorn right then.

Ready to see what I've got for you? Noon came up before things could get embarassing for Midnight.

Bring it on.

Once you get a look at that, you'll never want to get rid of me any more. Hang on for a second... Bam. How do ya like that?

This really was something. Midnight's vision had suddenly turned a very dark blue, with a few ponies and objects highlighted in bright color.

Knew you'd like it. I have no idea how it works myself, let me tell you, but let me tell you how it works. Ponies and objects you are not interested in are the base color. White are allies or hiding spots. Your target is gold, and enemies are red.

What do you mean, enemies? There are none of those here, as far as I can see.

Lucky filly.

Midnight spotted a blob of another color appearing in her sight.

Aaand what does pink mean? Like, that one over there. Wait, is she moving towards me? I can't really make her out clearly. How do I turn this off?

You ask. I'm the one living in our brain, so managing Pegasus Eye is up to me. What an amazing talent you never knew you had, eh?

This was not to Midnight's liking. It would bind her to the demon still inside her, adding another reason she had to overcome to remove it.

"Uh, hey Sparkle, what's on your mind?"

"Gah, spoiled brat." The group of friends was watching a foal run around shouting while its mother didn't even try to look like she was watching it.

"Don't blame the kid. It's all her fault." V pointed towards the mother mare.

"Yeah. Should teach those a lesson they won't forget." Brabblestoff let out.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, teach them for bringing up their foals like that. Slicey slicey. Maybe the foal too, just to educate it."

"How about you shut your mouth about things you don't know a buck's worth about?" Midnight suddenly snapped into the conversation.

"Woah 'Night, cool down."

"You know, my father was... a drinker and a fiend. And one night, he came back crazier than usual. Mommy grabbed a kitchen knife to defend herself. He didn't like that. Not one bit."

Midnight never talked about that time she was now obviously referring to. The group listened in shock.

"With me watching, he took the knife, laughing while he did it. When he was done, he turned over, saw me, and walked over towards me. 'Why so serious?', he asked. I couldn't move. He was next to me. 'Why so serious?'"

"I..." Brabblestoff tried to speak, but his voice died down.

"He put the blade in my mouth and continued. 'Why so serious?'. I tried everything I could to avoid the blade inside me, but he held me in place. 'Why so seriouss? Let's put a smile on that face!'. Aaaand... why so serious?"

"I... I didn't know you... Wait, you serious?"

"No. My father's a good, honest pony. Doesn't change the fact my mother WAS murdered and died in my hooves. So, what do we learn?"

"Don't make inappropriate jokes, there may be an actual victim nearby?"

"Who will buck your face off if you ever say something like that again. Smart colt."

And you said I'm the evil one.

Don't mind me, just educating some ponies.

"Who would schedule an exam that shortly before the finals anyways? Even more so, who WOULD NOT TELL ME?" Sparkle was obviously not pleased as she walked out of the classroom alongside Midnight. Through the windows, they could see the great weather outside.

"I know, he can be a bit annoying sometimes, but you gotta see over that. You've still got a week to prepare, after all."

"A week, I'd need three at least. What will I do? I've never had this stuff before!"

"Shouldn't you have done it in, like, fourth semester in your old school? You'll be fine, trust me. I haven't really started repeating myself. I always do it that way. Hey, want to come over sometime, preferably this week, and have a studying session together?"

"Oh, you'd do that for me? No way, I'd only slow you down so we both fail." Sparkle's way of avoiding anypony having to work for her was amazing.

Midnight pulled the smaller unicorn closer to her. As friends, of course. "Sparkle, you've got brains, you've got talent, you've even got the modesty not to brag with them. You deserve graduating more than anypony else here."

"If you put it that way... Um, well, when do you have time?"

"Let's see, today's Wednesday... We can start on Friday evening, right after school, when we've both had dinner. If I can talk Dad into it - and you're okay with it, of course - we can even have dinner together to save time. I'm not really doing anything on Fridays."

"That's such a generous offer of you..."

"So you've got time on Friday? Good, but we won't possibly make it through. How about another meeting on Sunday?"

"Sounds good to me. I can come whenever you feel like it, really."

Did this filly just not have any real friends other than Midnight or did she just put her work above everything? Sudden pain. A high voice, like Sparkle's, screamed shortly. A shift in gravity. More pain.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you alright?"

Midnight's senses began to come back. An object was pushing into her leg. Without thinking, she removed it telekinetically. Apparently, it had entered her skin, as there was a feeling of cold following where the object had left.

"Hm. That is a minor inconvenience."

"That's put simply. You should go to the nurse."

Midnight regained her sense for balance and slowly rose to her hooves. "I AM the nurse, Sparkle. Besides, even if I wasn't, it would be overkill. That's only a..."

She looked at her foreleg, spotting a bleeding gash in it. The liquid pouring out of it was about to reach her hoof.

"Okay, it's more than I thought. Still, I'm fine. Or at least I can shrug it off. I've had plenty of those before. Didn't involve ponies shoving doors into my face though." Midnight shot a burning look to the mare who had just tried to come out of the room and was now heavily apologising. Her magic was still in effect. Midnight only just realised. Deciding to take a closer look at the unknown object, she floated it over in front of her face. It turned out to be a simple, thankfully clean nail.

"So small, and yet you create such a big wound. Get out." She flung the nail into a nearby trash bin. As she realigned to look at Sparkle, who still had a doubtful look on her face, Midnight's hoof found wetness upon touching the ground.

"Oh yeah. That thing. Don't worry you two, I got it." Summoning her magic again, Midnight sanitised her wound, then floated over a tissue from her saddlebags to take up the blood. "There. Good as new. Literally new, coming to think of it..."

Sparkle awoke from her state of seeming petrification. She still didn't open her mouth. Midnight didn't get what would be so surprising about a pony bandaging its own wounds.

"Hellooo, Sparkle, wake up. I'm fine, look, no more blood. Now, is Friday a set time or not?"

"Uhm, sure, sure. Yeah." Sparkle had been hypnotised by something else entirely, but she never told anypony what it was.