Splitting aMid the Night

Midnight was in Ponyville, far from all evil, and Sparkle was with her. Nothing else mattered.

After lunch, they had resumed their search for Pinkie Pie, which still didn't yield the desired results. Eventually, Twilight had pulled Midnight into the store of another friend of hers that they happened to be close to.

She didn't like that place. Its major inhabitant was apparently trying to keep up an organised storefront, but various fabrics and design sheets were disrupting the image already in the main presentation room, right after entering through the door. Worse even was who had caused the chaos.

Living in Carousel Boutique, as she had called it, was a unicorn mare with a white coat, purple mane, and three blue jewels as a cutie mark. It had to be the one Midnight had found to be closer to the flow than the rest when first examining them through the extended Pegasus Eye.

That wasn't the problem, though. It was more that she, in all she did, obviously seeked aknowledgement from the kind of ponies Midnight had hoped to have left behind in Canterlot. Also, she was being an unbearable drama queen about everything that happened to her. Midnight hadn't known Rarity for long, but she already knew that they couldn't possibly get along well.

At least the visit had brought some good. As they were about to leave, Spike had entered the Boutique, claiming that Pinkie had pushed him out of the library and that he wanted to see somepony. Sparkle had just laughed it off and later told Midnight that the little one had a crush on Rarity. Strangely, he had walked right past the unicorn and gone upstairs while Midnight was lingering inside after Twilight had already left the Boutique.

Since they had unknowingly achieved their goal, Sparkle had told Midnight when she should come to the library and ran off to prevent Pinkie from literally setting her home on fire, drowning it in a lake, and accidentally launching it into space all at the same time (Somehow, that was apparently possible for the pink mare). Along with her love interest, Midnight's interest in anything else had left, so she went home to freshen up and pass the time.

Obviously, she ended up eating a bit of chocolate lying on the sofa in front of the television because she didn't feel like doing anything productive while that lavender filly was throwing her into pure turmoil.

Another commercial started while Midnight was chipping another bit off of the delicious bar. This one featured a big, red stallion with a blonde mane, standing in front of a running shower. "Hello mares."

Guess that applies to me.

"Look at your stallion. Now back to me. Now back at your stallion. Now back to me. Sadly, he isn't me. But if he stopped using mare scented body wash and switched to Apple Spice, he could smell like me!"

But I want her to smell like the mare she is! Oh, sweet, sweet... hey. Stop tampering with my mind!

Honni soit qui mal y pense.

"Look down. Back up. Where are ya. We're on a boat, with the stallion your stallion could smell like. What's in your hoof?"

Almost empty chocolate wrapping paper. Hooray for the fact that it's not completely empty!

The stallion on screen pulled out some wrapping paper that was even the same brand as Midnight's.

Wow, they know their audience.

The bar kept shrinking, much to Midnight's displeasure. Why couldn't chocolate be infinite?

"I have it. It's a chocolate bar with two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. Look again. The tickets are now DIAMONDS. Anything is possible when your stallion smells like Apple Spice and not a mare. I am a horse."

Perhaps I should use that to trick that certain meat bag's senses... but then she'd love me for what I don't have.

Juicy, giant apples. Need I remind you that it's kind of counterproductive to be late for a party with somepony you want to realise that she's in love with you?

In fact, it was about time for Midnight to get going. She quickly chomped down the rest of her emergency ration, turned off the TV, fed the paper to the trash can, and left.

The Ponyville style to party was interesting, to say the least. A surprising number of ponies had come to celebrate her arrival. There were various games set up to play, more than a few of which Midnight already knew from her foalhood. Perhaps everything was just that much more lighthearted down in Ponyville. Midnight wasn't sure she liked that, though. Taking everything with a spoonful of sugar usually required to close one's eyes from the real world.

But it wasn't time to worry about that. She had been forced to participate in almost all of the activities available, which had made her realise that they actually were kind of fun, if just in a sarcastic way of being far too old and still doing it. Midnight still wasn't one for crowded situations where she had no overview and couldn't plan her moves, though. So she quickly retreated to a corner some paces away from everypony else, where she could observe in peace.

It wasn't her own fault. The unicorn hostess was just being so mesmerising that not watching her endless grace in all she did whenever possible was probably forbidden by law. Midnight had already mingled with the rest of Sparkle's friends, so the rest of her evening would be dedicated to the one and only.

Right then, she was futilely trying to pin the tail on the pony picture two feet next to her, so the 'grace' part didn't fully apply, but Midnight didn't care. She loved everything her future marefriend did.

Speaking of which...

Actually, it's 'whom'.

Which, because I'm referring to 'marefriend', not Filly. Or would that still... whatever. Did you notice who else is here? Eyes forward, then twenty-three point two degrees to the left.

Huh, what do you... oh my gosh. She came to Ponyville, too? This is not good.

Right there in the crowd was a very well-known white pegasus that let her red mane flow down freely until it reached her chest, in a style not unlike Midnight's. On her flank, a subtle depiction of a star nebula in the night sky.

Okay, just dodge her the best I can, reapply the mane dying so she won't recognise me, do some advances on Sparkle in order to give her a message...

She saw you and is coming our way.

Oh, dammit dammit dammit! What do I do?

Put on your best innocent smile and try to avoid talking about how she broke our heart. Or the time that followed. Or how many assassinations you had planned for her. My favorite's the one where you'd stuff every single one of her feathers up hers before adding in the tar the other way around.

That's mine too.

We have so much in common! Now stop staring at your new crush's plot and focus on your old one's. Now raise them to her face.

"Hey, you're new to town, right?"

She doesn't remember me?

Or doesn't want to show that she does.

"Yeah."

"Nice party, huh? Y'know, just give Pinkie a reason to party and she'll make a miracle out of it."

She does remember me. I can't think of another reason why she should go down this tackiest of tacky romance novel roads of conversation.

"Suppose you know that better than me, since you've been in Ponyville for some time now... how long has it been?"

Midnight wasn't actively trying to steer the conversation away from their would-be relationship. If Shimmer remembered, she should suffer for it. Apparently, she did, as some of her mane's color found its way to her cheeks.

"Midnight, I know what I did, and I'm sorry. So terribly sorry." Tears started to well up in her eyes. Her apology seemed to be genuine. Midnight liked that. The more of the pain she had once felt was now inflicted on her, the better. Midnight had, already back then, long lost the ability to forgive crimes, no matter how petty they were. "Can you forgive me? Can you give me... a second chance?"

She laughed. "Did you think I had FORGOTTEN? Did you think I had FORGIVEN? Behold now, the terrible vengeance of the Midnight! Uhm, I mean... let's talk about that."

Shimmer was clearly out of any comfort zone that she may have had before. Visibly intimidated by Midnight, she lowered her head and shied away. "Okay, I'll be waiting for... whenever you feel like... I'm sorry I bothered you. I'm so sorry this ever had to happen. I've been so foalish."

"Yes you have." Midnight's face did not once shift from the vicious grin of victory there was on it as Shimmer retreated back into the crowd, not to understanding, not to sympathy, not to mercy, even though every fiber of her body wanted it to. Every weak fiber, at least.

What a coup de grace. How could you?

Maybe the fact that she left me to cry over yet another failure during a time where I would have direly needed her to easen up my suffering helped me.

Yet you still have feelings for her.

Midnight sighed in disappointment of herself. You make me have them. What are we... if not slaves to this curse?

Living ponies! This is what differentiates you from savage beasts, Midnight!

When Noon used Midnight's name, she could tell that her demon was being honest for once. The desperate sound in her inner voice was delicious to her.

I'll tell you. We... are patient.

After claiming her revenge on the special somepony she had never wanted to see again, Midnight resumed awkwardly standing besides the party. Some time later though, she got bored of that, and decided to go up the nearby stairs to further explore the library.

Up on the second floor, she found even more books, illuminated by nothing more than the Moon shining in through a few windows. One of them was the big one through which the balcony could be entered. Before another one, a small desk stood, with some ink, a quill, and a bit of parchment spread over it.

She randomly read some of the lined up books' titles until one caught her attention. While they were all more or less clean, that particular book wasn't dusty at all.

'Mare Bookworm's Guide to: Seducing Mares'.

Just what could she possibly want to do with that?

Beats me.

Shifted into denial again, have we?

We... are patient.

Midnight decided to drop the matter and keep searching for anything that'd keep her occupied until the others noticed she was gone. Going out sounded like a nice idea to her. Much to her pleasure, Twilight's balcony had a railing that was too high for her to climb. Afterall, it was impossible to predict Midnight's actions.

On and around said balcony were multiple flowerpots, one's contents more particular than the previous ones'. Midnight focused on one clung to the railing, which contained a bush of roses, all in ranging shades of pink, although some of them were white and one in the middle was a bright red.

"Fascinating, isn't it? What do you think about that?" Twilight quietly asked from behind. Without making any noise, she moved over to Midnight's side. She wasn't looking for Midnight to get her back to the party. She was just there, spending time with her, alone, in the night, under the moon, surrounded by flowers. Fortunately, it was too dark for her to see the blush Midnight failed to hide.

"Well, on first glance, it's a big 'screw you!' to ol' Mendel. But there's probably a lot more to it, right?"

"Love's Bloom. It's capable of sensing whenever two ponies nearby fall in love. As soon as one of them notices it, one of the blossoms turns red. When they get into an open relationship, it then goes into pink. However, when a heart is broken, it permanently turns white, no matter where it was, and will regain any functionality only when the two ponies both reach a state they can both truly accept."

As Sparkle finished talking, apparently still oblivious that the red one was meant for her, it lost a bit of its color. "Oh no! I hope those two, whoever they are, are alright. I hate seeing young love shattered."

'You do realise who this one is for, yes?' or perhaps the classy 'Hey, now that we're both here...'. Say something, robot! Now is the time!

Midnight couldn't. In the one moment that mattered, she was overwhelmed by fear and concern and couldn't muster the courage to say anything that'd clear out things once and for all. Trying to rehydrate her dried out mouth, she nodded in aknowledgement of the explanation.

"So... um... what else do you have here? Are all of those magical?"

Wrong choice of words, robot. We are such a coward.

"Oh, you know, I'm just keeping a little assortment for study. Over here, for instance, I've got some Poison Joke. Don't touch it!" Twilight indicated towards a small, light blue flower.

"Mhm."

"Aaand here's the Pi-lant. If you listen closely, you can hear it constantly reciting random numbers."

Celestia, why must she have such an angelic voice?

"And those?"

"Uhm, those are just simply Pansy Flowers. A mare's gotta have some beauty in her life somewhere."

I know where mine is. If only she knew. While Sparkle was distracted, Midnight silently moved in closer to her, until she could hear her soft breathing. If she noticed, Twilight didn't seem to mind. Even the tiniest bit of warmth radiating from her cured all of Midnight's ailments and put her at inner peace.

"Plus, they're really tasty."

"Pardon me?"

"Oh, I've been in Ponyville some time already, I must have forgotten. Don't you eat flowers in Canterlot?"

"Why, sure we do, but only cheap ones like Daisies or Dandelions. Most of the time, those decorative specimens are infused with poison to keep the bugs out, anyway. Don't want to get a stomach ache from them."

"Well, mine are one hundred percent biological, I can tell you. I've grown them by myself from seeds." She turned away to focus on the Pansy Flowers, making sure each of them was still perfectly aligned.

Shut up and kiss me!

"What? Did you just say something?"

"Nah. Must've come from downstairs."

"I guess so."

Now she's also intercepting my thoughts? Or is this just a joke played on me by the Flow? Or is it trying to help me get her?

But what about Shimmer?

Meh, she can go die in a corner, I don't care... after I've had a second chance with her.

At long last, the party had ended, far too long into the night. Midnight had found her way into her bed, but didn't want to sleep yet. Instead, she put it above all else to keep up a steady rhythm of deep breaths while surrendering her consciousness to the Flow. Before long, she found that she had once more managed to find her way into the Magic Flow, able to explore it as she pleased.

She fled out of the house, passing Vinyl and Octavia as they were once again sloppily making out in Vinyl's room. When she arrived outside, still floating a fair distance above the ground, she looked to the horizon and noticed that in this realm, twilight was, in fact, eternal. The Shadow Star was in the same position it had been in when she had left it.

But that wasn't her goal. She kept flying on wings of nothingness until she reached a hollow tree, penetrating its walls while looking for one particular blob of concentrated energy. She found her peacefully sleeping on the top floor in a normal bed with some rather cute star sheets.

She was such a beauty, even, if not even more than normal, while asleep.

Now that is stalking.

We are one with the shadows.

Midnight didn't need anything more. She didn't even need the sound of Twilight's adorable snoring to make the moment perfect. All she wanted was to watch her rest and dream. Those dreams, obviously, leaking out and calling for Midnight to pick them up.

Sparkle dreamt of a sunny afternoon on a hill, close to which a river flowed past lazily, too slow and shallow to possibly be any danger, while a strong tree with a swing attached to it was standing on top of the hill. It was so cute Midnight would usually want to throw up, but with this filly, it was alright.

While she was watching Twilight's silent, tiny movements, her chest rising and falling, Midnight didn't even notice how her own consciousness was being drawn back towards her body and to a whole new world from there on out. It ended up to be the current night of her life.