Splitting aMid the Night

"And if I don't want to?"

"Don't bother trying to avoid it. Pinkie Pie will throw you a party this evening and you'll attend it, whether you like it or not. The best I can do for you now is talking her into using the library instead of your house." Twilight showed a knowing smile, as if that was some sort of initiation ritual that everypony had to go through. Judging by how she knew Ponyville, Midnight could imagine that it actually was.

"That'd be nice of you."

"Now we just have to find her. Come on." She rose from the table they'd been sitting at and trotted over to the door. After opening it with her magic, she stopped to look back at Midnight, who was still on her rump, trying to contemplate her actions.

"As in right now?"

"Of course. When else?"

"I dunno. After a few hours of silent observation and waiting for the right moment? Patience, Sparkle!"

We... are patient.

"Ha, pointless," Twilight laughed and ran outside.

Midnight looked at Spike, wo just shrugged, and went after her.

One thing couldn't be denied; That filly had far more energy in her than expected. At least that meant that she didn't spend all day memorising her library, even though her beautiful mind very much suggested so.

Midnight had just barely managed to stay on her tricolored tail until she stopped in a market square filled with ponies of all sorts and colors. Midnight had passed it before, just a few minutes earlier, while travelling to Twilight's home. Still, the crowd before them looked imposing.

She felt oddly out of place and would prefer to quickly take her leave again.

Unfortunately, her intended future life patner looked like she was just waiting for Midnight so she wouldn't lose her in the fray.

"Uncomfortable. Can we go home now?"

"Afraid?"

"Certainly not. But why are we here?"

"Pinkie might be shopping for party supplies. If not, Applejack should be around somewhere. The other Earth Pony, remember?"

The fatty.

Twilight did not accept any more resistance as she casually put a foreleg around Midnight's neck and pushed her into the crowd.

Midnight had no idea how she was supposed to spot anypony. While pink was relatively rare as a color for ponies, there were ponies in literally every direction except down in the ground and directly in front of them, which formed a narrow corridor for them to walk through.

No matter where she looked, Midnight saw ponies with all kinds of colors and one, the other, or no appendix to their body. Those blessed with wings occasionally took to the air and obstructed the sky for the rest.

We could get out of here quickly, you know.

I don't want to bother the Flow.

You just don't want to stop wasting your time together with Filly.

That's what you do when you're in love.

We... are patient. But the time has come, robot. We must act now!

Thus, Noon activated Pegasus Eye on her own without asking any longer. Midnight looked around.

Time seemed to run differently in the Flow. The pegasi were no longer blocking her vision. Midnight couldn't see the Sun in the sky, but neither were there the Moon, nor any stars. On the horizon, she saw a dark violet star setting, illumatinating with pure darkness clusters of energy which looked like rocks floating in the Aether without any kind of support.

It wasn't darkness in the purest of meanings, though. That kind was nothing more than empty blackness, currently filling the sky. Instead, the shadow star emitted pure energy, without any sense or purpose inscribed into it, creating that soft violet glow. It was beautiful.

Eternal twilight. Glorious, isn't it?

How come I've never seen this before?

I'll tell us what you think. We've grown closer to the Magic Flow. Connected better to what we are already a part of. It has decided to reveal its true form to you. Ah, the Flow can be as shifting as yourself, Missy M. Alternatively, it's always been this way and we just forgot. You're not very apprehensive about memories.

It'd create a positive feedback and force me to suffer more from it, to fall deeper into madness, the more I give in. It'd create more of your kind. It'd kill me. Not that I'd mind that, but I think Sparkle would.

Speaking of whom...

A bundle of pink waves, only slightly brighter than the neverending sunset off in the distance, softly prodded Midnight in the side to get her attention. Returning her perception to the illusion of matter and out of the realm of twilight, she turned her head towards Twilight to signal that her poking had worked.

"I can't see Pinkie around here. Do... whoa, did you just - actually, nevermind, it's gone now."

"Would you care to tell me what's going on?"

"Well, I was looking for Pinkie and I couldn't spot her so I decided to check if you saw anything, but you looked really concentrated and then I felt a small pulse of energy and I have no idea where that came from, but anyway, and then I saw some kind of purple-ish shimmer in your eyes but that was probably just a reflection or my imagination 'cause it's so easy to get lost in your eyes..."

"Okay. Stop. Put a dot and breathe."

Didn't I once know somepony named Shimmer once?

That's the one you had a crush on as a filly. Speaking of whom...

Not before she wants it.

That's the point! Can't you see the signals she's giving? They might be unintentional slips of her tongue, but it's still there!

Really?

If I noticed it, why didn't you?

Meh, I was busy admiring her beauty.

That's not how you spell 'butt'.

Busted. Midnight could feel the blood rushing to her head at the embarassing revelation. Then again, it was her demon of the past, from whom it was was literally impossible to hide anything she saw, heard, or thought.

"Erm, to the point, can't find her either."

"we'll bump into Pinkie sooner or later, I guess. For now, we can introduce you to Applejack."

"Technically, I've already met her."

"Oh, come on, that doesn't count. We were all tired and you basically just talked to me for a minute before leaving again."

"Well then, where is she?"

"Her stand is usually in the south 'cause that's where the orchard itself is. So, given that it's about eleven o'clock and the Sun's over there..."

Midnight set off before Sparkle could finish approximating the direction they had to go in. After walking a few paces, she was rejoined by her beloved.

"How did you know that so quickly?"

"Being the good filly I'm not, I know our surroundings and that Canterlot lies to the east. Also, open your eyes, filly. You can see the apples from here!"

"I'm not... how old are you, anyway?"

"Less than you, if only by a little. Does that stop me from calling you filly?" Midnight allowed her face to show a provocative grin before storming off in order to avoid Twilight's revenge.

Fortunately, she managed to close the distance between them and Applejack quickly, as only a second later, the second unicorn arrived at her side. She didn't look too mad at Midnight, but it was clear that she'd have taken retribution if able. The crowd wasn't as dense at this end of the market. Around Applejack's market, it had even cleared completely, giving her a moment to talk.

She really was as generous as Midnight remembered her, especially around her cutie mark, which was three red apples imprinted into her orange fur. Her smaragd eyes were beaming at Midnight.

"Why, ain't tha' our newest friend! How ya doin'?"

"Fine, I guess. Y'know, just moved in and stuff."

"Ah hear ya. Is there somethin' Ah can help y'all with?"

"I'm just seeing the town right now, but according to Sparkle over here, the one you call Pinkie will force me to party tonight. My own home wouldn't be that fitting for the purpose, so we're trying to find her to make her use the library instead, but we couldn't, so Sparks wanted to introduce me to you. Isn't that right?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"So, how is it that you become friends in those parts?"

Applejack shot Midnight a highly sceptical look.

"What? I've been with the same ponies for years and years and those were all snobs from Canterlot, do you expect me to know how you do such stuff in Ponyville?"

"Well, ya start with givin' each other's names, then you talk a bit about who ya are an' what it is yer doin' an' by that point y'all are usually already deep in a conversation."

"Mhm. Hell... I'm Midnight. I just finished school back in Canterlot and have come here to work as a nurse in Ponyville's clinic. What's your name?" Midnight offered Applejack a hoof for added effect. Beside her, she could hear Sparkle snickering at her behavior. She ignored her and so did the Earth Pony before her, who took her hoof and shook it.

"Pleasure meetin' ya. Ah'm Applejack an' I work them Sweet Apple Acres, y'know, buck apples an' sell 'em and all that, t'gether with mah brother, Big Macintosh."

"Fascinating. Tell me more." The conversation they were having was more than a bit staged, but Midnight kept acting just for fun. If Applejack picked up on it, she didn't show it.

"Ah like buckin' stuff an' gettin' together with mah family 'n' friends... oh, you should meet 'em! There's Granny Smith makin' the best apple pies both sides of wherever ya want, lil' Apple Bloom an' her Crusader buddies doin' all sorts a hijinks an' of course mah buddies, them other Elements of Harmony."

After a second of trying to comprehend what Applejack had just said through her strong southern accent, Midnight nodded to show she had understood.

"I... well, I suppose you could say I like to work and study. Or at least I've been doing it a lot to get through school. Other than that, I read a lot and sometimes do a bit of philosophy when I'm bored. I also go out with friends sometimes. Used to, at least. Now they are all still in Canterlot and I'm here."

"Oh, really? What kinda fancy philosophics?"

"A bit of this, a bit of that. For instance, how beautiful twilight really is. Not liked by everypony, but just think about what you can do. I just love looking at the stars I'm seeing then."

"Uh, sure, sugar." Applejack suddenly had an awkward smile on her face and motioned for Twilight to talk to her later. Midnight decided to give them their opportunity and walked away, just staying within earshot.

"Pardon me askin', but yer sweet on her, right?" Applejack whispered. Clearly, they were underestimating Midnight's range of hearing. What she heard made her ears perk up and her heart flutter shily.

"What? Oh, no no no. We're just good friends."

"Really? Ah mean, ya spent the last few months t'gether, all we know, she's using that funny pet name, ya both keep lookin' at each other like... no? Okay, if ya say so. If it makes you feel worse, I just lost ten bits, an' I ain't tellin' ya who to."

She's looking at me like something?

Into you. I told us. Now it's just a matter of showing her that she is. Fancy eats, candle light...

We... are patient.

Patience means acting at the right time. Don't miss it.

We... are patient.

We should return into action, methinks.

"All done with your chitchat?"

The looks of fear, of uncertainty about how much Midnight had overhead in both Applejack's and Twilight's eyes were delicious. She put up an innocent, but genuine, smile to deteriorate their perceptions, which appeared to work.

"Uh, sure. Not ta be rude, but Ah'm gettin' some customers, look. Ah'll see y'all t'night, then. Or can Ah get ya somethin' before ya leave?"

Midnight looked at Sparkle, who copied her gesture. She had to surpress laughing at how they looked like two ponies in that stage of their relationship where they couldn't make a decision on their own, that kind you had to be ashamed for. Reminding herself that she wanted them to be like that greatly helped her keep her composure.

Take her out for lunch!

Too direct.

Do it anyway! We're hungry.

Irony was tasty. While Midnight had refused to sate their hunger to avoid looking too benevolent, and having her intentions discovered prematurely, Twilight had done the exact opposite and even insisted on demonstrating the local cuisine. Perhaps not as much 'demonstrating' as 'paying somepony else to do it for her', but Midnight didn't complain.

It was more about who ate the daisy sandwiches with her, anyway. As long as it was that one cute unicorn, Midnight would still enjoy her meal more than anything else she had ever eaten if it was served over the rotting corpse of her late mother, rather than on a table for two outside of a small restaurant somewhere not too far from Ponyville's center market square, where they were in that moment.

Ponyville might be a pleasant town after all. The Sun, now perfectly orthogonally to Canterlot mountain, was beaming down on them, trying to warm up some of the snow that choked the land's vegetation. It felt odd that Canterlot, being so much higher up, was almost completely snow-free while down in Ponyville white was far more of the rule than the exception.

She wasn't a young filly that would frolic in the snow now by any means, unless Sparkle was there with her. She had grown out of that age almost directly after she had entered it, when she had been forced to see the true nature of ponykind.

But Midnight didn't think about that. It was the time to eat, laugh, and plan new adventures with her friend, not weep over the past. She felt like the naive schoolfilly she'd never been.

Midnight didn't care. All that mattered where that she was in Ponyville, far from all evil, together with Twilight.