Splitting aMid the Night

There. I've nudged things a little. Why are you so resistant to do what you want to happen?

No no no, now everything's ruined... I'm not even sure I want her, not to mention she's never shown interest!

You're just making things up. Everything's going just fine. Watch.

There wasn't much for Midnight to watch, though. The only thing she could see in the fog was Sparkle, staring back at her. Then, she ended the silence Midnight couldn't muster the words to interrupt with a hearty laugh.

"Oh, love you too, Midnight."

Midnight's heart jumped out of her chest, travelled to Trottingham, and sent her back a card.

"Really?"

"Of course! I love all of my friends, and you're certainly one of them."

A card that described exactly how many parts it had been shattered into. If Midnight had just a bit less mind discipline, she'd be in tears at this grave misunderstanding.

She's got ten dictionaries in her library and still doesn't know what words mean.

Oh so sad. Good thing we've arrived at our destination

How am I supposed to know that?

I hear an ancient voice, whispering from the void. And it chills my lightless heart.

Indeed, the house they'd been walking towards for what felt like an eternity appeared on the artificially shortened horizon.

"Eeh, heh, good to know. Well, it's been fun, but here we are. See you later!" she said before galloping off, leaving a confused unicorn behind, but Sparkle vanished out of her mind as soon as the fog claimed her when Midnight passed through the doors.

Listen. I know what she said, but this is nothing but a misunderstanding! She didn't get what we were saying, no need to jump to conclusions. No! I, the embodiment of our self-preservation, won't allow you such thoughts. Even if she did just reject you, there's still Shimmer. We must not leave this world prematurely.

But I want her and only her and I want her right now!

Midnight made her way through the room to the office, taking care to avoid showing anything out of the ordinary to patients who weren't asleep or unconscious. She burst through the door, slamming it shut behind her, and slid down to the floor along the wall without caring whether or not Nurse Redheart was inside, giving up the attempt to conceal her emotions.

"Why, that's certainly one way to say hello."

Midnight paid the white mare no attention, but instead pulled her legs closer to her body, curling herself up into a ball.

"Somepony stole a very precious thing from you, didn't they?" Midnight could hear her hoofsteps coming over to her location.

"Go away. You have no idea."

"It was your heart."

"... yes. How do you know that?" Midnight opened up mentally, but didn't change her position, keeping her eyes clenched shut while liquid kept coming from them.

"There's only one way to make a filly cry like that. Forgive me for judging you too quickly, but I've seen enough of you to know that that applies especially to you. Which stallion did it?"

At last, Midnight managed to control herself, fading her uncontrolled sobs into silence, which she didn't break until the Nurse continued.

"I see. Well, seeing as you're a unicorn, I guess offspring won't... uhm, sorry. Do you want to talk about that special mare?"

"No. Just let me work my eight hours and I'm off again," Midnight said, picking herself up off the ground and rubbing her eyes.

"I've been born far longer back than I'd like, you know. I've dealt with plenty of ponies lacking their will to live and heartsickness is reason number one. Just remember, I'm always there for everypony needing my help. And, think it through. You're not currently in your right mind," Nurse Redheart said while pulling out Midnight's uniform.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I can smell it. Come on, I know just the thing to cheer you up."

She led Midnight to the main chamber, quietly opening up a room which the unicorn had not yet seen. In it was a young filly lying in a bed, oblivious to the mares' presence.

"This is Ruby Pinch. Unfortunate little filly's got herself the Pony Pox, which..."

"Take a rumpload of time to cure on foals and might kill her, I know. Talk about resilient infection," Midnight finished the nurse's sentence.

"My guess is that she'll be with us for about another month. Before being back to full health, of course. So why don't we try and brighten up her stay?"

"Really? Foalsitting?" Midnight asked as her boss just stood there with a smile. "In case you don't know, I hate this world. I have already attempted suicide once and that stupid filly makes me consider a second time. But especially, I hate foals. They're expensive, annoying, loud, dumb, and you can't even blame them for it. Were I to get raped and impregnated, which is the only way I'd ever let anypony near me like that, I'd rather carve out my own womb using a rusted knife than bear the foal."

"We also serve abortions!"

Midnight allowed her head to drop in disapproval, "Was that really necessary?"

"But of course. She's a lively filly, just give her a try."

"Fine, given you pay my salary. But what am I supposed to do?"

"That's the spirit! You'll figure it out. There's some fitting books in her room and she knows what's possible in here. Just give her your best and... don't talk about her mother." Nurse Redheart said, radiating excess happiness that made Midnight feel sick from the inside. She then patted her on the back and left to handle other affairs.

Off the top of her head, Midnight could name a hundred things she'd rather do in that moment, Sparkle included, even though she had just broken her heart. On the other hoof, keeping up the unicorn filly's illusion of a world where hope was still justified was probably the most productive action for her to take.

"Hey kid. How are you doing?"

Ruby Pinch looked up from doing something Midnight didn't even care about in her bed and spotted her, responding with a voice that could be described as angelic and heartwarming if Midnight wasn't busy plotting satanistic schemes including many deaths, but mostly her own, "Oh, uh, hello, I haven't seen you before. Are you new here?"

"Fifth day in Ponyville overall. I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Midnight and I've come to help Nurse Redheart here in this clinic."

"You're horny!" Ruby piped out unexpectedly.

It appears that I am emitting stronger pheromones than I expected. I knew I should've stayed at home. Wait, what? That filly can't even know the facts of life yet, how is she supposed to... hum.

"Excuse me?"

"You're horny, like me!" she repeated, unaware of what she was saying. Fortunately, Midnight caught what she was trying to express.

"I guess I am, yes. But please, call say 'unicorn'."

"Does that mean you're from Canterlot? I've heard there are many urnicons there. Ooh, can you do magic?"

Questions about the filly's age arose in Midnight's mind as she kept the conversation going at the best of her ability, "Yeah, born and raised in Canterlot, left it recently. So I assume you've never seen it. Nearly everypony going around there has a horn. It's a nice city. The Princesses also live there. You know who those are, yes?"

The way Ruby Pinch nodded her little head was just adorable. Unfortunately, the moody Midnight didn't feel like she had time for such diversions. "Uh huh. There's Cell... Celessia for raising the Sun and Luna for the Moon."

Midnight suddenly realised she knew very little about how to treat foals. She had avoided contact with them as best as she could and there was a certain reason preventing her from thinking back of what she had liked in her own foalhood. "So, mh, what do you wanna do? Read a book or..."

Her attempts at drawing the filly into an activity where she could ignore the fact that she was even there were futile, Midnight noticed. She couldn't be certain her suggestions had even reached her little patient's mind. That was quite understandable, though. There was a new pony in her life and of course Ruby wanted to know everything she could ask about her.

Consequently, her swell of questions was neverending, "Do you have a cutie mark? How does it look? Can I see? Ooh, what does it mean?"

"Whoa there, take it slow, cutie. You see, there's two pills, those stand for helping ponies, and somewhere, there's also something representing teleportation."

"Mhm," Ruby acted knowingly, but Midnight could see it on her face that she had no idea what she had just heard.

"Going from one place to another through magic. Like this, watch!" Midnight prepared her special spell, her intended destination being the other side of the bed. However, when she opened her eyes after blinking, she found herself out of the room entirely, a mishap caused by lack of practice. She couldn't remember a single time within the last three months where she had used that specific spell, so it had obviously had to misfire. She had used magic of the kind at her exams, but her very own method had been banned there.

With a grin trying to hide her embarassment, she went back in. She, apparently, hadn't missed her effect on the small one, though.

"Wee! First you were here and then suddenly you were gone. Do it again!"

For the sake of amusing her, Midnight readied her magic and jumped back and forth across the room, eliciting more and more intense giggles from the filly. She slowly came to a halt and went back to the side of the bed.

"That's about it. When they get their cutie mark, every unicorn learns a spell that's just for them that nopony else can do. That's mine. I named it 'Blink'. Because, you know, all it takes is a blink..." Midnight cast it one last time, switching sides yet again with the wink of an eye. "and I'm gone!"

"I think miss Sparkle can copy your spell."

"Yes, I bet she could," Midnight hissed with frustration running so deep it went unnoticed by the filly, who didn't let anything bring her mood down.

"I wanna be able to do magic like you."

"One day, you will, I promise. And that day, you'll also get your cutie mark and get a signature spell. Like Blink, but your very own."

"How did you get yours?" Ruby Pinch asked with genuine interest written on her face.

Of course she had to ask. What now? Make up a story or deter the conversation away from it?

As uncreative as we are? Pull the standard distraction every parent uses ten times a day. And think faster.

"Hello?" Ruby asked, assuring that Midnight's attention was still with her. "You're a funny one, Midnite."

"Uh, that's no story for now. I'll tell you later. For now, let's do something else."

Her excuse was cheaper than dirt in a village built of dirt in a valley where three subsequent landslides had buried said village under a few dozen meters of dirt, but her little patient swallowed it without asking.

"Okay. Hey, how about you read me a story?"

Whatever Midnight was feeling on the inside, she didn't allow any of it to show, for the better of everypony in Ponyville. Getting hit by a nuclear rainboom tended to be unhealthy for a pony's coat.

"Sure, why not. Do you have any suggestions?"

Ruby Pinch nodded and pointed towards a small book on a table a bit off that looked like it had been read one too many times. There was no major damage inflicted to it, but the edges were already frayed out. It looked like a foals' book, though it was rather lengthy in being that.

"I bet you can get it over by yourself," Midnight whispered ominously.

The filly gladly accepted the challenge. However, no matter how hard she concentrated on funneling what magic she could yet control through her horn, she didn't produce much more than a few sparks. Midnight had planned for that to happen and thus helped Ruby out using her own magic when she wasn't looking. The book felt a bit lighter than she would have expected, though.

"Yay, you did it!"

Only now that it was already brought over and about to be read Midnight could see the book's title.

"Oh, would you look at that, my mother used to read that to me. You can't believe how fast time passes. You can read, I assume?"

"Of course I can! I'm a big filly, I'm already going to school and learning to read and write and math better. At least I used to before I got sick."

"Do you miss your friends?"

"Mhm, but it's not that bad. They come often and visit and bring me my homework. I guess there's no escaping school after all." It was only at a beginner's level, far from the high-class cynicism Midnight did, but Ruby had everything she needed for doing some good sarcasm later in her life, which lured a soft chuckle out of Midnight.

"Alright. Let's not waste time and jump right in so you can show me your reading skills!"

"And that's the tale of the pegasus who always flew away. Did we learn anything from it?" Midnight concluded their reading session, closing up the book and laying it down on the tail end Ruby's bed.

She didn't have to think much about the answer as Midnight's question had been more of a rhetorical one, anyway. Thus, she joyfully provided as soon as the question was asked, "That it's okay to have your fears, but sometimes, you gotta stand up and face them."

Midnight wanted to roll her eyes, she wanted to formulate a sarcastic answer, but she didn't. It was just a foal, it couldn't be blamed. So instead, she just remained silent, though giving an approving nod.

"Mid-nite? Are you scared?" Ruby appeared to have real concerns for Midnight.

"Hm? What should I be afraid of?"

"Me, for example."

"Why should I be?"

"I've heard them talk. Nurse Redheart is telling ponies not to get too close to me. They say I carry death."

She must be gifted by the Flow with enhanced perception. The Nurse would never say something like that anywhere near a normal patient's earshot.

"Ah, that's a bunch of nonsense. You're gonna be just fine."

"But what if I infect you? I don't want to get you sick."

Midnight put a gentle hoof on the filly's chest. "Oh, so that's what it's about. Well, fortunately for you, I, with my special talent being medical care, am born with a magically enhanced immune system, granting me high resistance against most diseases."

If Ruby hadn't understood when Midnight had talked about teleportation, she had absolutely no idea what she meant now.

"In other words, I don't get sick easily."

"Oh. Well, it's been fun, I hope we can do this again soon."

"What do you mean? We're still in the middle of..." Midnight couldn't finish her sentence, as Ruby Pinch fell asleep that very second. In her state, she'd be exceptionally weak, allowing for easy loss of consciousness, but such control was a tiny bit impressive. Midnight shrugged and went back to the hub room, where Nurse Redheart was awaiting her with a mischievous grin.

"Oh, you shut up. I'm still mad," Midnight growled, though she couldn't keep a serious expression up for long. "But I gotta admit, that filly's got it in her."

The day hadn't turned out to be quite as terrible as she'd expected, but Midnight was still glad she could go home and finish everything. As she stepped out of the clinic, she noticed to her displeasure that the fog was still lingering around, heavily limiting sight range. She couldn't explain why she had expected otherwise since pegasi were getting paid to ensure it did.

You have true vision, now see!

Of course, Pegasus Eye would allow her to see through the fog. Every landmark was brought back into sight and she could easily spot two ponies within, one she didn't care about idly walking around and the other a pegasus struggling to fly through the moisture. That flying pony had a suspiciously pink teint within the Flow, though. If she took the right route, Midnight could probably avoid her altogether and just go home.

Why exactly didn't I try that before running into that beloved doggy mare?

Go home and take care of yourself. Everything will be brighter tomorrow. It's been a long day already, and it's barely evening.

Spending the evening had turned out rather easy. Before she even noticed it, bedtime had come for Midnight, so she obliged. However, one thing was left to do. From within her bed, she levitated out a seemingly blank book. However, after tapping it with her horn and whispering, "I solemnly swear to be up to something good," it revealed its content and even the cover image, a closeup of a grey tie's knot, redrew itself.

"Mischief managed," Midnight whispered, wiping the content from the book again. Nopony could possibly have...

The window.

Midnight spun around in her bed, just so catching the face of a certain white pegasus, which had a rather satisfied look on it. She was far too worn out to even worry about it, though, and thus quickly drifted off to sleep, perhaps a bit more blissful than she would have been without looking.