Splitting aMid the Night

"Hello Midnight. I want to play a game."

Midnight's heart raced. It wasn't the dark basement room thingy that scared her. Nor was it the recording of a pony puppet speaking to her. It was the fact that she was tied to some kind of terrifying machinery.

"All your life, you have worked hard and efficiently to achieve what you want. But I wonder, what if you are thrown into a new situation with no time to prepare? Your task is relatively simple. The key to your shackles is on your stomach. Work your muscles if you want to get out. You have one minute after you begin moving."

Midnight saw why she should hurry. That piece of metal did not look nice, and it approached her surprisingly fast. She panicked and began to wiggle around as hard as she could to move the key to her freedom to her mouth. Twenty seconds gone. She was making some progress. Then, suddenly, Midnight misbreathed and her hopes of survival fell to the floor. Now what should she do? She could move her head freely and looked around. With thirty seconds to live, Midnight saw a flash of color. Lavender? No, she had to have blinked and looked into her own coat.

She remembered that she was a unicorn and thus could simply levitate the key over. Within ten seconds, she was off the table. There didn't appear to be any more traps in that room. Behind her, the wooden surface she had been lying on was crushed.

"Game over. Oh, wait, you probably cheated, didn't you. Should've seen that coming. Darn unicorns. Nevermind. You see, there is a poisonous gas dispenser in the ventilation system. It will only affect this room, so if you manage to escape, you don't have to worry about it. There are multiple ways out of here. One is the ventilation shaft. Try not to get a cough from the neurotoxin on your way through there."

Midnight inspected the room more closely. There were no features except for a covered ventilation shaft and a simple door out. But, of course, it had to be locked. Why should it be easy. She could always just climb out through the ventilation, it'd be big enough for her. But that'd lead directly past the source of her eventual doom. Another flash of color. Midnight concentrated on the moment and could make out... a face? Was it smiling at her? It had lasted longer than the previous one, but it was still gone before Midnight could examine it. If she used a metal detection spell, Midnight might be able to pick the lock using levitation. She wondered why that thought hadn't occured to her earlier. In fact, she was out before she even knew it.

"Impressive. If you would stop cheating. How is one supposed to run a labyrinth of horror if the subject keeps finding an easy way out? Keep walking, I suppose."

Midnight approached a pit. Just before she was in range to take a closer look at it, a door slammed shut behind her. The pit turned out to be filled with lava. There were arrow launchers throughout the room. And, as if to add insult to injury, a few venomous snakes were present on the platform that kept getting smaller. She'd have to act quickly, before all the ground sank down. With two determined jumps, Midnight made it halfway through the room. She prepared and executed the final leap when suddenly something tore her out of her survivalist concentration. An arrow had struck her in the side. This wasn't such a grave injury in itself. Worse was that she had retracted her legs as a first reaction and thus missed the jump. Midnight was falling helplessly down towards instant sublimation. The image returned. But this time it stayed. It was her best friend, wearing the smile of winners she had learned to love.

"Spar... kle..."

This wasn't real. If it was, Midnight would have long hit the bottom of the pit. She would feel the arrow in her side. This was nothing but a pathetic attempt to make Midnight wet herself out of fear from Noon. This was her own mind. And if it was her mind, it would have to follow HER rules, not Noon's. Midnight floated back to safe ground. The pain in her stomach was gone. Behind that door, Noon would await her. Midnight knew she would because she wanted her to. She crashed it open and ran into a room so devoid of any features it didn't even have visible walls, but only darkness, which had been pushed aside to free up the space Midnight needed. Midnight stood in front of a pony looking exactly like her. She was somehow less pretty than Midnight, though.

"At last we stand face to face. You are Noon."

"I am Noon."

"You will stop doing whatever it is you are trying to do."

"I will stop doing whatever it is I am trying to do."

Midnight lifted a hoof to touch the unicorn before her, who copied the gesture. When their legs met, she didn't feel anything like a hoof, though. All Midnight could feel was a cold, smooth surface.

"Gah, what is this? Trickster, reveal yourself!"

In rage, Midnight struck out and bashed in the glass she was looking into. No shards hurt her. She didn't want them to.

"Be careful what you say. You may be speaking to nothing more than an image of yourself."

Midnight suddenly was on the other side of the mirror she'd been talking to. Looking through the hole there now was in it, she spotted herself looking back. Only that this version still had a night blue mane. There was a small brook of blood flowing down the right foreleg of both of them.

"And with that, my entrance is complete. Take a moment to think about what just happened, image."

"Don't call me that, demon. I am the bigger us, you are the minor part."

"I didn't think that up, you did, miss mirror."

"You do realise it's not the time to taunt me now? Now you're here, facing me at last. If nothing else, I can trace you to where you live in my brain. I'll use a kitchen knife if I have to."

"No. You won't. I still owe you some answers. For instance... how am I still here, despite your greatest efforts?"

"Kill what does not live."

"Heh, charming as always. Realise your real lies, Midnight. You won't achieve victory. Because anything short of my annihilation is a defeat for you. And guess what. You can't kill me. You are a useless bag of meat with no other purpose than reproduce until you produce something that's better at survival than you. A valiant effort you're making, but there is nothing higher for you to reach."

"And that's supposed to mean?" Midnight pushed aside the mirror as a whole, despite it being fixated to the floor. It slid through the ground like water and disappeared in the dark.

"If you can't ascend to the 'higher state of being', as you liked to call it, you can't destroy me. You're not mentally capable to shrug off what I stand for. Anything you may do against me will delay me at best."

Noon was right. Midnight once more cursed her mortal shell. She bent her head down in defeat.

"Suppose you're right. I am worthless. I can't even control my own mind. So, what is the best thing to do in this situation?"

"Reunite us. Make us whole. Become what you were!"

"I can't. If I do, then I'm gonna lose my mind because of Mother and I'll completely fail at school and worst of all, I, the unshakable Midnight, will be... in love with Sparkle."

"At least you're talking openly about it. That's the first step."

"And the last one I'm going to do. The only reason I feel this fear is your influence on my otherwise perfect mind, but I still can't do this. I have done too much to go back now."

"You will. You will see."

"Next question. Why Sparkle? Just... why? She's so young and innocent. All I should be feeling for her is the guardian instinct, but you just go and give me a crush on her."

"Ask yourself."

"That's not very helpful."

"It's the best answer I have because it's the best answer YOU have. I'm sure you'll find the reasons. Maybe it's just pure chance."

"What is your purpose in me? Like, why do you give me those nightmares and all that?"

"You're a perfectionist, Midnight. Since you... Failed, you didn't accept anything but the best from yourself or others. The nightmares are because you won't stop trying to repress me. In your sleep, you're at my mercy."

"Like how I have proven right before?"

"That was an accident. Little filly shook you awake enough to take control."

"I love that pony."

"I know we do."

"Wait, I didn't..."

"We know what we meant. Now, because you are a perfectionist, you can't live without feelings. I must create the perfect pony, and by Celestia, I will."

"Huh? I'm just trying to survive school and get a nice job here!"

"We are so close to perfection, Midnight. Make us whole!"

"And then fall into madness. The thing about perfection is that it can never be achieved, yet it's always there, right in front of us, all the time. You wouldn't know that because I didn't, when you were created! Wait... When were you created?"

"You... ugh. Well, my existence was founded back then. You wouldn't stop crying if you lived out your emotions, so you decided to try and live without. Since then, every feeling you've repressed has come together and created me."

"Darkling."

"Why, that's a powerful demon, thank you."

"I hate you. Well, what if I do live out my feelings and all that more? Shouldn't you vanish?"

"If it was that easy. Even if it was, would you want me to? Don't you... Like that fillyfriend of yours?"

"Would I still like her after you were gone?"

"No way to find out. Try not to sleep in, by the way. Don't want to miss your second date. Maybe she'll kiss you this time."

"Don't you dare. We may be into Sparkle, but she knows nothing of that and I think it's better if she stays the unreachable goal."