Splitting aMid the Night

Wake up.

"Why should I?" Midnight called into the darkness. She knew that the discretion of thinking was unnecessary for both that she was mostly alone in her own mind and that Noon would almost certainly be taking form anyhow.

"So that I can talk to you," she said while approaching from the nothingness. "Ah, could I ever keep a secret from you. You've become too good, I'd even say. Anyhow. Must I mention that I am pleased to see you coming true to what you are?" She blew Midnight's mane over her face with a bit of magic. "Ah, blue fits you so wonderfully, much better than the frilly pink. But, since you are now that which I was, I suppose a change of form is in order for me." She closed her eyes and concentrated. Drop by drop, the colour drained from her until a bright yellow in her mane, which also became shorter and lighter, was the only hue remaining.

"You are not her. Let her leave my mind already!"

Noon rolled her eyes. "Sweetie, the point is exactly that you don't forget your mother. For the better of the many. But, I suppose." Within the darkness of a single blink, she reverted to her usual colours. She left out a stripe of her mane and tail though, which remained in Daylight's blonde, as well as keeping her eyes golden. "Forgotten pasts are condemned to repeat themselves."

"Got it under control." Midnight wandered ahead, a very specific goal in mind.

"After tonight? I want to see out of control. Oh, and darling?" She slid as a shadow until she was right in front of Midnight. "Let's just pretend you aren't currently searching for something within your own mind. She will be asleep by now. The gateway is open."

"Wake up!" a wonderful voice cheered. Midnight couldn't say she minded being awoken by her, except maybe for the bit which meant that she'd lost the race for once. However, that hit in ego was mostly dampened when she shuffled to pretend to have been more awake and saw that Twilight was carrying half a feast in her magic.

"Ah yes. I'll just not question how and why you slipped out from literally in between my arms, made breakfast, and carried it up to me in one go, all without making noise." Midnight sat up and put on her favorite expression, "If you make it worth my while."

"Magic, silly." She began to reassemble the parts on the small table set over Midnight's legs. "Ironically, Night's Embrace. It's that funny kind of irony which isn't. Either way, if that's your price, I'm afraid I'll have to pay up." Their faces met once more, provoking the same fireworks within Midnight as usual, though it had lost a bit of sweetness as she tasted coffee on her beloved's tongue. Suddenly, Midnight's eyes sprung wide open, causing Twilight to disconnect and ask, "What's wrong?"

"I didn't say stop! Eh, I just realised... I'm making out with the protégé of the monarch over literally everything I've ever known, seen, or even heard of." As Twilight didn't seem to catch onto her logic, she continued, "I mean, I don't intend to break your heart or anything, but... I've always been more of a lunar pony anyway, so I guess it'd fit."

She sat down on the edge of the bed, sadly putting herself out of Midnight's reach, "She's not as bad as they say, you know."

"So it's not true that she solved every problem back in the day by banishing something, then sending you to figure it out afterwards? The Crystal Empire, Discord, her own sister demanding attention, am I missing anything? Well, Those Who Came Before had to go to ruin somehow, I suppose." A glass of orange juice rose up to drown Midnight's voice, which she would have gladly accepted even if she had had any options.

"She - okay, yes, there might have been other solutions. She's not a monarch, though. It's all evenly spread between the four of them."

"Wait, four?" Midnight blurted once all of the assaulting liquid had vanished into her stomach.

"Yes, her, Princess Luna, Cadance, and the recently coronated Princess Night Sparkle." She bit into a slice of bread, apparently expecting the topic to be fully resolved already. Only after finishing it did her eyes meet Midnight's and she explained, "Distant cousin of mine. Everypony knew it was basically a matter of time, ever since she was born. I guess that happens if you're an alicorn."

"Miss Sparkle, do I hear a note of jealousy?" Midnight teased before a piece of pastry silenced her again.

"Of course not!" Twilight instantly argued, though various of her facial features spoke a different language. "Besides, as if I had any difficulty making myself an alicorn. I could use an old experiment of mine, Commutation, for instance, though I wouldn't want to rob another of her wings."

With much force, Midnight managed a counterspell to break free and said, "I'm sure of it. I'd say I'm surprised to see you're related to a princess, but then I'd be lying, no? Well, I kind of am, but that's beside the point. Not to mention that everypony in Canterlot is somehow related anyway. If I remember correctly, we share a great-great-grandparent or something." She munched on the croissant before adding her most recent thought, "So does this classify as incest? Eh, prolly not more than any other two unicorns."

"You know, there's more to be done if we want it to count as that." As brief as her message had been, her eyes and sudden seductive tone would have given away her intentions even if she'd recited a shopping list.

It took a second to sink into Midnight, but once it did, her mind could barely focus on anything else. "Nnnnope! Not yet, anyhow. I'm still just a little filly after all, except maybe if you'd - on the other hoof, no, not even then."

"Well, at least I tried."

"On another note, got any plans for today, besides trying to make up the loss of my mother around ten years late?" Technically, Midnight was bound out of moving by multiple objects stacked on top of her, including the pony sitting on her leg. Practically, it only brought her to appreciate the art of teleportation even more. "Although, coming to be reminded of it, I might have something to show to you myself."

"Wouldn't mind to see more of you any time," Twilight said with a hidden grin as she laid back on the bed, fully utilising the newly gained space.

"I don't think there's that much more to me, really. Though I have to thank you for reminding me of the good old times back with the scrub authors. They loved to build in dialogue like yours, you know." Midnight lent her a helping hoof, forcing her to stand up as well. "Come on, we gotta appreciate my free days as long as I have them!"

With a groan, Twilight came to her hooves. "Don't you have like literally three of them a week? Anyway. Someone needs to watch the library, but since Spike is home now, we're probably as free as we want to be." She collected the leftovers and made her way towards the stairs. "I'm always eager to learn about magic."

Is she clairvoyant or something?

As a matter of fact, G told me she is. Little surprising, is it? She is aligned to the Magic Flow like you, she simply doesn't realise it. To be fair, every unicorn is, and they all possess a certain edge in recognition which the others lack. Not that they ever noticed of course, as both ways are only normal to those ponies. You two simply elevated it into an art form.

I'll be surprised when I find something she can't do. An amazing gift that she's got, even in comparison to all the others.

Is it a gift? To have knowledge over not only the times present and past, but also those yet to come? To lose yourself in the future, unable to decipher which is memory, which vision, and which reality? To grasp the inevitability of fate, her own helplessness against it? To know that eventually she will forebode the end of any and every thing?

Honestly, I'd expect her power to bring the end instead of just predicting it.

On another note, would you kindly follow that plot already before its owner notices you've just been staring at it?

We... are patient.

But she isn't!

"After all, you - no, sorry, we both took long enough to get this to happen," Twilight said, apparently convinced that Midnight had been behind her the entire time. "It's time to actually enjoy the life we have."

"Yes, certainly," Midnight replied, intent to uphold the illusion.

As they descended the stairs, small voices preceded actual vision of the room downstairs. Midnight couldn't make out anything clear though, or perhaps she just had no reason to try. As soon as they set hoof in the main room, Twilight kept going towards the kitchen, leaving her to pretend they hadn't just come out of the library's bedroom together. Fortunately, it didn't seem like the youngsters present paid her much heed either way. Spike was running around trying to keep order despite the four foals wreaking chaos wherever he turned his back. Out of those four, she recognised the three fillies who always showed up to annoy her whenever their big sisters did.

There was another, however, bent most over the tome which Twilight would almost certainly prefer to not receive such treatment. Most surprisingly, it was a colt. Out of all the places, she wouldn't have expected to see him running around with a fillies' band. He blended in nicely, however. His snow white coat and candy purple mane formed him into a nearly exact lookalike to Rarity's sister, except that he was missing the pink colouration and had it cut shorter. "I don't think that'd work," he said in a voice which was only slightly less squeaky than that of his counterpart. "We'd have troubles coming up with all the wood."

"Well, what if we'd use a cannon?" the other unicorn replied. Sweetie Belle, that was her name. Midnight couldn't tell if she wanted to be pleased or shocked that she remembered.

"Uh, I'm not sure I still wanna..." Scootaloo tried to inject, but she was quickly oversounded by the colt.

"We'd still have to figure out air friction. Besides, where do you get a cannon large enough to stuff a pony into?"

"Guys, I really don't think I..." she tried and failed again, this time being collectively ignored in favour of the apples' filly.

"Good point there, Soprano. But Ah think there might be somepony helpin' us with that."

Just then, Twilight reappeared in the doorway. She didn't speak a word, but her eyes alone were enough to give Midnight no option other than to leave the others behind and join her as quickly as possible. Just as the previous room had had a clutter of books in every location, used pans and dishes stacked up in there, silently calling for somepony to change that status. Normally, either one of them would have gladly obeyed, but for now, all that mattered was being together. Everything else blended into a shroud of nothingness. With much self-control, Midnight could barely prevent diving in and claiming those velvet lips for herself once again, if only because the door was still open behind her.

"So," Twilight said, breaking the haze. "You said you've got something for me?"

"Aside from eternal love, you mean?" Apparently, she really wanted to get to the point, but she couldn't hide a small light coming up in her stoic expression. "Alright, gimme a sec."

Open the rift as usual. Those invited by the nether princess will be able to follow.

Forcing the door shut behind her, Midnight dove into the Magic Flow as usual. She had almost hoped to find nothing there, but the rift remained where it had been before, innocently linking one world to the other. She lowered her horn to touch its edge and calmly exhaled, releasing the bounds that kept her energy from flowing freely. As her magic flew forth without shape, the portal steadily grew in size.

Once she returned to the other world, Twilight simply stood there, face unmoving but betraying a burning interest within. "A stabilised portal spell? That's an impressive piece of magic, even considering that it's your special talent. Where does it lead?"

"Well, it's kinda hard to explain." Midnight struggled for the right words as she circled around to Twilight's side. "I think it's best if you just step through. I promise you won't be hurt. I'll be right behind you."

With small steps, Twilight approached the rift. Once there, she stuck out an experimenting hoof as if it were cold waters to first be tested. Eventually, she took a leap forward, vanishing from reality, and Midnight followed. Once inside, her stoic expression had faded, replaced with genuine awe. "Wow. This is... what is this place?"

"Wished I could tell you. She calls it the Magic Flow. It's amazing, isn't it?"

"She?" Twilight asked, her gaze darting from one point to another. "Wait a minute, let me collect my thoughts. I've read up on this before. Yes, Starswirl the Bearded wrote a few pieces on this, but I think we're the first ponies to actually experience it!" She suddenly refocused on Midnight, taking her into an excited embrace which shook more than slightly. "Can you imagine what this means? This could change the very basics of magic! Spellcasting, philosophy, even society itself could be entirely revamped by this discovery! A new age has begun. We need to get word of this to the princess this moment!"

"Actually, Sparkle," Midnight said, causing her to pause on the way back to the portal, "I'm not sure this world is ready for it. I guess research all you want, but it should stay between us for now."

Twilight stood in silence, turned away, as if she was pondering whether to obey or tackle Midnight. Eventually, she turned and said, "I understand. This is too much for anypony to handle. It deserves to stay the mystery it is." Midnight could feel the disappointment. She'd offered her the world, only to deny it at the last second. Thus, it came as all the more a surprise when a gentle touch on her lips forced her to recognise Twilight's eager smile. "But that doesn't mean we can't explore, does it?"

"No." Despite her resistance, a light chuckle burst forth from Midnight. "No, I guess it doesn't." Over Twilight's shoulder, she could see another pony walking in from the distance. "But I gotta warn you, this is nothing like the reality you're used to. By the way, this is 'she'. You know her." She finally adressed Noon, "You've missed out on a good bit."

"You're acting like you could ever be somewhere where I'm not," she replied. "Anyway. Good morning, mistress' mistress, nice to finally meet you in flesh and blood."

"Wait, now you're back to how you once looked, but that's what she always was... if I asked the other one which one of you is the real Midnight, what would she say?"

"She'd say that I am." Midnight turned to leave the library.

"Eh, close enough," Twilight said and followed.