Splitting aMid the Night

Thus ends the third week of her having left you, and the fourth dawns.

Since when do weeks begin on Tuesdays?

They do if you aren't a new age pony. And yet no word from Sparky. I wonder if she remembers you're even there. Perhaps she found somepony else, perhaps one with actual talent to cure the one she truly loves. One closer to that about which she cares, away from the diversions of Ponyville.

Gah. She is busy doing other stuff, I know it. She would never betray me. Couldn't. Gosh, I feel terrible.

On hoof, Midnight would certainly have left an ugly stain on the sheets. However, with the help of teleportation magic, she managed to reach the downstairs toilet just in time before her stomach emptied, earlier even than expected. Apparently, it did not take kindly to magic when already upset. She flushed away the business she'd made and rose to clean the rest of it out of her mouth.

That was entirely unrelated and only due to me finding my old candy stash last night. Wonderful, it's that time, because what else could be off. Sparkle's gone, everypony at work is acting up, nopony else to talk to.

I'm always there.

And that. I need some coffee. It's too early to cast anything, not to mention go on shift. I hate this talent.

There is an entire empire to be claimed.

Would you kindly shut it already? You're not helping. Alright, focus. We'll just keep going like we did the last weeks. However that was. I am seriously losing my mind right about now.

I only represent what is already present within you. What is there yet to lose, anyhow.

Midnight prepared the kettle, but then decided it'd be faster and easier to heat a single cup's content through magic. The drink helped to clear her mind, albeit barely. At least the headache left off. After another powerful chug, she gagged and threw the rest into the sink. She could not be bothered to finish it, nor to prepare anything more. She had to already be on the way, even with her talents in mind.

Once her spell had carried her into the clinic's back room, Nurse Redheart was quick to catch her expression. "So, that's how you're running again? I'd expected you to cheer up, now that you have your sweetheart." She helped Midnight get dressed faster than she could do it by herself, an impressive feat considering she was only an earth pony. "If you're going to keep sulking, I'm afraid I may have to hug you. Don't leg things get too far."

"Save it, Nurse." Knowing there were no emergencies to treat, Midnight took her usual seat and limped back in it until her eyes met the ceiling. "I'm getting enough of those elsewhere. Not as many nowadays, though. Not now that she's gone. Maybe Ruby can do the impossible. She's still kicking, right?"

She put something down on her desk. By the sounds of it, it was most likely the new schedule. "Remember who's standing behind you. You are not alone in this, no matter what crisis you think to exist." She shut the door behind her as she exited the room, leaving Midnight to herself.

Yeah, well, who is there. Ruby. End of list.

How tragic that she's left you, despite all this. Knowing what your sort can do if isolated. Perhaps she doesn't yet, though she surely will.

Sigh. Anyhow. Our work never ends. Might as well get to it.

Morale is half the battle. As is knowledge, preparation, and the actual battle. Ponies who write such passages have something about them, don't they.

One of the doors was cracked open, allowing a gentle voice to escape. At least Midnight would be able to skip right to the one patient about whom she cared. It was still early in the day, so Ruby was asleep when she entered the room. If nothing else, she was very convincing at pretending to do so. Midnight made sure to let her rest for as long as possible before she awoke her with the care of a sister and the intrusiveness of a nurse. "Good morning, squirt. A great day's ahead for both of us, I can feel it." Ruby just blinked at her, sleep still prevalent in her eyes. "And other such stuff. Look, breakfast's here. So you can eat and stuff. Things are not by far going well enough for me to do this right now. Mind if I stick around?"

Ruby just shook her head, so Midnight took a seat at the small table. Once she had regained some of her senses, Ruby Pinch got out of bed and joined her there. As soon as she'd sat down, sleep overtook her again, or at least it appeared to. Meanwhile, however, a lime aura of energy had made its way onto the tray, pouring juice into a mug.

"At least that's something positive for the day, and another point for those saying that it depends on the eye colour," said Midnight, tracing the energy to its point of origin at Ruby's horn. It wasn't glowing with as much power as a mature unicorn's would, but it was a start. "Even though I'm pretty much the living proof against it. Not to mention that I of all should know that that's bogus. Anyhow." She caught Ruby's eye, which had opened up to the world and all its wonderful horrors to behold. "Now that you're receiving, congrats on your first actual spell."

"Huh?" It took her another two seconds to realise what she was doing. When she did, her eyes tore fully open and the spell broke. Fortunately, Midnight had expected it and caught everything in her own magic to prevent having to clean up afterwards. "Oh, wow, I didn't even mean to... I was just thinking about doing it by hoof, and it happened."

"Yes, many unicorns find the path to their power without noticing it at first. Coming to think of it, I can't remember how my first time went. Must have been ages ago, when I was below your age even." The drawings stuck up onto the walls were simple, but they were excellent targets to hold Midnight's view while her attention was within herself.

One dead, five injured. Okay, no dead, but two injured. You managed to burst the way free and make a mess so enormous you'd still be paying it off if it hadn't been attributed to a gas explosion, in a house that was never connected to the grid. What a lucky coincidence that the investigation failed exactly there. On that note, you might not know that you're boosting her, but she couldn't do this if you weren't around. You are the princess of all which is magic, after all. You are literally pulling the Flow closer to your world here, so she has a shorter way to go when calling for it. Well, and I suppose she is growing up after all.

Oh yes, I remember that time. That was fun. Just what is wrong with me...

Schizophrenia, hearing voices, imagining a second dimension, for a start. Coming to think of it, do you even have a medical degree? Whose idea was it to put you half in charge of all those ponies?

Ruby heaved and pushed and pulled, in the end managing to resummon that aura and making a spoon float in front of her face. "I'm really doing this, I'm doing magic." She looked up at Midnight, a spark hidden deep within her eyes, not visible, only sensible. "Guess I'm a proper unicorn now."

"Heh, yeah. We'll have to celebrate. Maybe there's something in the back that we can– No, of course there isn't. I suppose I could use my awesome skills in being somewhere and then somewhere else really fast to get to a bakery, if I had money here, which I don't. Besides, the Nurse would only yell at me if I did, plus I'd have to face that pony again. Or I suppose we could just pretend with what we have." With a short flare of magic, Midnight summoned a fountain of sparks atop the small bun that had yet gone untouched. "That's a really simple spell by the way, I'm sure you'll be able to do it yourself soon."

Ruby picked the bun up between her hooves. If she had attempted to use magic, she had hidden it well. "Yay, I–" She was cut off by a rude cough, followed by another.

"That's what you're gonna do, huh? Alright, this is no excuse to skip on treatment, I guess." Midnight pulled her in and began with the usual magic therapy.

Stop messing around, would you kindly do what you can?

On it.

Somehow, her magic didn't seem to have the same impact it usually had. She couldn't get Ruby to relax from tension, nor to stop coughing. "Urk, Midnight," she moaned off the top of her lungs.

With the newest hack, a series of red particles flew across the table. This was bad, it couldn't be happening, she couldn't allow it to. Midnight pushed as much energy as she could into her spell as she called, "No, no no no, don't do that. Stay with me, Ruby! Nurse!"

No matter how hard she tried, it didn't stop. One of Ruby's tiny hooves reached up to Midnight for support. However, it was interrupted as she heaved and threw more and more blood onto the table. Seconds later, the leg grasping her went limp. It was over, she couldn't save her any more. She was flooded with too much emotion to comprehend; Not knowing what else to do, she gave in to tears as a hope to relieve her pain. Just then, Nurse Redheart burst in through the door. "What's– Oh, no. This is what it looks like, isn't it." She rushed towards Ruby and inspected her, ignoring Midnight. "No pulse, neither breathing. Damn, why did it have to hit you."

"Alright, pull it together, follow protocol." Midnight managed to quell the flood for the time being. Her voice remained far from how she'd like it, though. "Name, Ruby Pinch. Time of death, ten twenty. Cause of death..." She looked down on the husk that had once been a filly. The blood blended all too well with the colour of her coat, mocking her with an illusion of integrity. "Uhm, death. I'm sorry, I really can't do this." She tried to leave, but was held back.

"She's your first, then?" The Nurse spoke only a few brief words, but they served to tell Midnight that she needed to stay, for herself if not for Ruby.

"Yeah, I– I still can't believe it. Such a young and promising life, wasted for the pleasure of a greater beyond. A greater behind, maybe."

She gave Midnight's back a few soft pats. "You hope that it'll be some old pony who's better off that way anyhow, but when it happens, it's always a filly." She sighed, only hinting at a fragment of the same pain Midnight was feeling. "The best we can do is move on past them."

"I'm not sure I can." Midnight broke free and headed out of the room, though she stopped at the door. "A lot to think about. Besides, I'd prefer not to be around here stained in blood when the guards show up for the record."

"Take your time off, I won't stop you." She released Ruby, but didn't rise. "Just remember who's still behind you."

Midnight ran, stopped, kept going. Heavy rain set in, mocking her with what she was trying to hold in. She took refuge from it under a tree. She had to have wandered into an orchard or forest. She couldn't tell which way she'd gone or how long she'd been walking, not with as much on her mind as there had been, nor did she really care. The wind animated the trees around her, gave them a voice to express themselves. It wasn't just random noise put together through the leaves. It was a whisper from a world beyond, telling her beautiful lies, beckoning for her. She knew she agreed, it was time to follow them. If there were any ponies near her, they could only see a flash as her magic took her where she needed to go.

"So, we've come to this, have we." Noon circled around her, ignoring that there was no ground below her half the time. "Not like you'd dare to do it anyway. You've been sitting here for the last hours, why should the next few be any different."

The rain stuck Midnight's mane to her face and in front of her eyes, but she'd never seen with any more clarity. "I'm gonna end this my way. Nopony wants me here. Everything I love dies. Even my own mind is turned against me. So you know what? I won't be taking it any more, starting now."

She leaned forward off the edge of the library's roof, but was interrupted as Noon called, "Stop, would you kindly? Back where I can be sure you won't fall off, would you kindly?" She climbed back onto her hooves without even noticing at first. Noon came face to face with her. "Would you kindly. Powerful words. Familiar words? Tell me, princess, has a mare decided to end herself, or is a vessel obeying orders to advance a plan beyond its imagination? Did Twilight's pet dragon fall ill or was he infected with an ill beyond this world? Did Ruby fall on her own, or was she murdered? Put down by something less than a mare, something that lives only for the orders bestowed upon it? Run, would you kindly?" Midnight's legs began racing around the small platform, guided by invisible strings above her will. "You truly are nothing but a slave. Stop, would you kindly? Would you kindly..."

"Kill!" yelled Midnight before Noon had any chance to continue. It was a silly thought, but the only chance she had. When she was next aware, she was no longer on the platform. She was flying.

Impact had come at last. She'd been in the air for an eternity. Perhaps her heart had stopped once or twice on the way down. It didn't matter either way. She could already feel herself hanging on by just a thread. The pain was overwhelming, but ultimately just a sacrifice to pave the way. Though her vision was blurred, she could make out movement in front of her, tiny sprites of energy uniting into a greater whole. Daylight formed before her. Somehow, she gathered the strength to move a leg and grasp her; She was solid, no more illusion than Midnight herself. "Mother," she whispered. "Is it over? Your legacy, that alone killed me?"

Daylight laid her leg back on the ground. She had to rest. "At long last." She walked around her, though her voice remained where it was, deep within Midnight's mind. "No princess rules forever, my child. Rest, your destiny awaits."

Midnight fell into darkness. It was over at last.