Splitting aMid the Night

"And whistled for a baboon," Midnight concluded.

Oh, why, unfortunate me seems to have napped off at the wrong time. Of course, time doesn't really have any significance to ascended like me. Be right back, hearing the stories out of your memory.

At least she's gonna be gone for a while.

Did I mention that time has no significance to me? Interesting choice to give her the uncensored version, especially when you know I am around. At least it puts your oh so famous mind discipline into perspective.

I've been a filly sometime too, alright?

The present-day filly in the room beamed at her. "Wow, you really did all that?"

"Sure thing, kiddo. Canterlot was some of my... wilder time. I'm sure you'd understand." She glanced at the clock. Time had passed rather quickly, and she had duties to fulfill. "Hmm, looks like I'm gonna have to actually do the job I'm paid for for a bit. That being said, my shift's still a bit, so I'm prolly gonna come back soon." Without waiting for a response that could convince her to push her work off to the far too helpful Nurse, she vanished in a flash of magic, reappearing within safety range of said aged mare, in the back room.

Nurse Redheart eventually wrestled her emotions, but it was obvious Midnight had given her quite the scare in the beginning. "I'd wish you'd stop abusing your talents, my darling. What if you do happen to teleport into somepony?"

"In that case," Midnight pondered. "It'd likely end with said pony losing whatever of their parts happened to be within the space I decided to occupy. But perhaps there is a safety mechanism in place, too. I haven't actually tried it yet. Though, on retrospective, that might be a reason why Mister Crawler always instructed us to teleport above the ground and outside of buildings. See, teleporting back out can be really tough if you've got pony all over yourself," she explained while searching out the medications for her share of patients. Upon reaching a certain spot on the list, her expression slipped ever so slightly into shock. "Not good. Why does she have to be so adorable?"

"Let me guess," the Nurse said while approaching to inspect the situation closely, "in telling her stories of your foalhood, you forgot to give Pinch her lunch meds?"

"Maybe I did," Midnight said, trying to focus on portioning the rations of those below Ruby on the list.

She sighed, but there was no exasperation audible. It sounded almost like she'd just wanted for Midnight's first proper mistake, to prove her own worth. "Well, you can teleport, so I suppose you can just warp to a bakery and get her something sweet to go along with it."

"There's a fundamental difference between teleporting and warping! That being that teleportation is far cooler. Anyway, as in, me? As in, after I've cared for the rest? As in, from my money?" Midnight asked, though each answer was already blatantly obvious.

"Don't try to act as though you'd need a motivation to buy her a treat. Not when she's essentially how your workdays pass. Also, she who messed it up, I'd say."

Midnight didn't try to debate further. Instead, she simply left the room, the neatly ordered tablet of pills enveloped in her usual blue aura floating besides her.

The other patients on her watch went by surprisingly easily. Perhaps it was their simpler routine, perhaps the face that Midnight couldn't care much for any of them. Before long, she was ready to teleport into town or, more accurately, would be after a brief stop at home, where she fetched sufficient money plus something extra that had caught her eye before she'd been able to leave. After that however, she stood out into the murky day, only then hit by the realisation that she knew exactly one bakery in town and that a certain pony likely worked it at the moment. Nevertheless, her empty duty towards Ruby Pinch motivated her to press on, even towards that pony. A Blink later, she stood on the edge of the shop, forced to go on in order to avoid suspicion. Fortunately, as much as she didn't like the pink mare behind the counter, seeing her rebounded inside Midnight's mind and returned with a memory which heavily increased the spring in her step and almost made her forget whom she still had to deal with. It also served nicely to pass the time until the line in front of her had vanished.

"We~lcome to Sugarcube Corner! What can I get you?" Pinkie greeted her in a way that would border to shouting in any other environment.

More importantly however, she managed to catch Midnight entirely off guard. She'd spent so long staring at the frilly decorations that she hadn't really decided on what to buy. "Well, I guess I'm looking for something to feed to a foal which won't melt her teeth right off."

"Guess those won't be it then," Pinkie said as she turned away from a pyramid of suspiciously well bordered off yellow sugar orbs. "Hmm, Pinchy," she murmured while rummaging through the goods. "A ha!" she then piped and reemerged with a nut-stuffed roll.

Upon seeing the treat, Midnight's stomach stung ever so lightly, reminding her that her lunch packer hadn't been quite up to standard. "That should be fine. Make it two of those, please."

"Okie dokie," the earth pony chimed, bringing forth another of the same kind out of the depths of the counter and packing both of them into a brown paper bag with somewhat impressive speed. "That'll be five bits flat then, please."

Realising the behaviour she was slipping into herself, Midnight silently brought out the asked amount and laid it onto the counter, then stored the pastries within her saddlebags.

The party pony didn't seem disrupted in the slightest, still perfectly on key as she swiped in the coins and tossed them into the air, watching with awe as they restacked perfectly within the register. "Come again soon!" she cheered while Midnight was only glad to finally be freed of her and started to make her way out of the bakery. She had better places to be, better ponies with whom to waste time.

"I'm back!" Midnight cheerfully announced herself with the bag floating besides her, perfectly placed to hide the medication which was behind it for as long as possible. "And I got you something!"

"Yaaay," the filly called with joy when Midnight magicked out her piece, joy that was slightly hindered when she revealed the pills, but nevertheless joy.

When Ruby had obediently taken her medication and munched on the roll held inbetween her tiny hooves in lieu of magic, Midnight's mind drifted and she looked around the room. It was standard issue, much white, a picture somewhere along the walls, storage for what was needed and Ruby's personal things, a window, much for function, little for form. It was not a room for a filly to spend an eternity in. She had in mind to change that at least slightly. "You ever think this room needs something?"

Ruby Pinch looked up, swallowed, and said, "Like what?"

"Like, some better decoration or stuff. Huh, lucky you, I seem to have brought my drawing equipment." Midnight levitated from her bags paper and crayon and set them down on the side table. It was the perfect plan. She'd get to do what she liked for some time and make Ruby happy simultaneously.

There was only one problem with her ingenious plan, she didn't calculate that the filly would obviously want to join her in that activity. "Ooh, can I too?"

"Uh, sure, I guess," she answered, pulling up another chair and helping Ruby out of her bed. "So, what should we draw about?"

"Cyborg princesses... in space!" Ruby piped with but a moment of hesitation.

Fillies were immeasurably worthy, if only for their ability to abandon all restraint that adults would call logic. Midnight smiled as she was reminded of that fact. "I suppose," she said and they both began drawing, one carefully holding the crayon between her teeth, always vigilant to not slip out of balance and have it create a gigantic line across the image, one commanding the world's very essence to do it for her. Once that thought occurred to Midnight, she couldn't tell which one of them was more civilised.

Eventually, about two times of enjoyment later, it was time to inspect the results. Surprisingly enough, their respective drawings looked nearly the same except for the obvious differences due to age. Certainly, it had to be a pure coincidence that they had both chosen to draw a winged unicorn with cybernetic implants using an implanted laser gun to battle a gigantic space octopus monster. "Interesting," Midnight commented.

"Yes, interesting," Ruby replied, looking back and forth between the two pieces of art. "Yours kinda looks like Miss Sparkle. Look, she's even got her cutie mark!"

Why exactly?

I had no part in this, Tartauros swear!

"Huh, she does. I guess that's what happens, you start thinking of your special somepony all the time. You know how it is."

"Not so much, I've never had somepony like that," Ruby Pinch confessed, lying back onto her side on top of the covers.

"Maybe your daddy? I'm sure he can only think about mummy and you."

"I don't know," Ruby said with lowered eyes. "I don't even know who he is, so I can't ask him."

I honestly am out of answers here.

Midnight's lips simply moved without her will, "Well, I know he does. It's a fuzzy feeling, let me tell you."

Whatever you're gonna do next time, not that.

"So she's your special somepony?" the filly asked with round eyes.

"Yeah, I suppose you could say that. But it's a secret, so ssh!" Midnight winked, glad to get off the topic. She levitated the pictures and said, "Anyhow, how about we find a place for those?" Ruby hopped off the bed and gladly 'assisted' Midnight in finding the right position among the walls at which to fixate the drawings. Eventually, they found the spot, making Ruby's room that much more enjoyable. As she beheld her work, Midnight noticed the clock, which gave her a message of mixed positivity. "Huh, wouldya look at that. I'm already off the hook again once I've done my last round. That is, unless you wanna talk some more about something?"

Ruby Pinch retreated back to her stuffed pony friend on the bed, thus unleashing the terrible weapon of irresistible cuteness upon Midnight. "I don't think I wanna. Are you going to visit Miss Sparkle now?"

"Guess I will." Midnight started heading for the exit, "Bye then, Ruby. See ya soon."

"Goodbye Midnight," came from behind as response when she just passed through the door. She shut it behind her and began the last round. Tonight, she was finally going to reap what she'd been sowing on for so long.

We... are patient.

Standing in front of the library, Midnight paused. One of the weeds which grew at the monstrous tree's foundation suddenly became extremely interesting, so much so that she was willing to stand in the beginning rain to examine it.

So? What are you waiting for? Don't you tell me...

I just wanna stand here and stare at some grass, alright?

You've got stage fright. Wonderful. After months of being best friends. After one of the bucketiest confessions to exist, including those in the kind of book only you out of you two would keep. After her boosting your everything. After an eternity of patience, you are too cowardly to collect your spoilings now? Robot, would you kindly get a move on?

But... walking in through the door seems so blunt. Perhaps another entry point. If only I had some way of seeing where she actually is right now.

Yeah, if only you had magical piercing vision which shows you the location of every living thing regardless of what lies between you and them.

With newgained insight, it'd be easy for Midnight to teleport inside the library, into the room where Twilight was headed perhaps, or the one she had just left. However, as she watched the pink glow's movements, she realised there was another location she'd much rather be at, and teleported right into it. Arriving just in time, she managed to catch her friend from falling to an overwhelming cough. "You know, somepony like you really deserves some bed time," she commented.

"Uh? Midnight, is that you?" Twilight blinked up at her with wet eyes. She looked bad. Her eyes were puffy, a drop of liquid ran out of her nose and her breathing was weak. "Oh, I'm so sorry, must've caught something, you'd better leave before you get it yourself."

"Honestly, the way you look, I'd invite myself to stay even if I was not immune to pretty much everything ever. Which, just by the way, I am, in case you'd forgotten." Midnight looked around. The lighting was surprisingly dim, various books and kitchenware laid around in small groups all around, a matter which did not bode well for the lavender unicorn's state, and there appeared to be something, likely water, being heated in the kitchen. It looked like a cosy home to Midnight. One to make her own. "By how I know you, I'll probably need to stay around the clock to make sure you follow the instructions. Amongst which being to bloody rest when you're that sick. If I may, of course."

Twilight slowly came back onto wobbly hooves, "Sure, stay as long as you want, we're there for each other now afterall. Gah, can't you cure me with magic or something?"

"Nope. Energy spell, mine. Never bothered to learn those for diseases. I don't think one of those would be perfectly safe for you right now, anyway." Midnight trotted into the kitchen, taking the boiling kettle down and refilling its contents into a cup containing instant coffee powder which handily happened to stand nearby, except that she replaced said powder with a tea bag. She returned it to Twilight who, in the meantime, had taken refuge lying on a sofa together with yet another book. "You'd better not make me make you be responsible. I could, you know. Care to explain what'd keep you from doing what you know you should?"

"Assignment," she said briefly without looking up from the scripture. "From the princess, kinda important. You know how it is."

"Not so much. I've never had somepony like that," Midnight confessed, lying onto her side on another piece of furniture. "But I do know that not even she would deny you rest if you needed it."

The book slammed close determinedly, but not forceful enough to risk causing any damage. "You know what, you're right. I can study more about 'the most advanced of friendships' later anyhow."

"Great, does that mean we're actually gonna behave like special someponies now?"

Silently, Twilight answered Midnight's question by catching her lips with her own, then added slightly louder, "As much as you want."

"I still find it amazing that you've got a guest bed next to your own for no reason," Midnight admitted her opinion as she entered her dearest's night chamber. The previous hours had been wonderful and they both agreed that Midnight didn't quite feel like going home just yet.

"You'd be surprised at how often that comes in handy," Twilight explained, releasing a tiny adorable sneeze right afterwards. "Sorry."

"It's like back at Canterlot, so many timeses ago." Midnight could practically feel her marefriend's eye twitch, which somehow cast a smirk onto her own face.

Twilight began to make herself comfortable below the star-embroidered blanket, "Had you been into me even then?"

"Pretty much since I saw you," Midnight replied, trying to climb below her bed's uniblue cover as sophisticated as ponies from the castle would expect of her.

"Why didn't you just speak up then? I would've been open, I think."

"Good night," Midnight hastily said, shutting off the light with a bit of magic.