Splitting aMid the Night

Fascinating. Another perspective.

This is strange.

What, because you usually commit suicide by this time?

Sometimes. Mostly because I do not remember this.

This is a part of your past as I am a part of you.

"There he is. Do you see him?" spoke a figure from outside of Midnight's perception.

She found herself in an opera, watching from a seat not too far back. The lighting was scarce, but still present; The show had not yet begun. "I believe I do." Another shadow formed, up in the high seats.

"Good. I will not be long. Make your way out slowly and cover my exit." Fragments collected into the shape of a unicorn mare, in the seat next to Midnight. Through the darkness, she could not make out much more than the figure's bright coat. Perhaps the memory itself prevented her from seeing any more. Through a burst of golden light, the mare teleported out of the seats, to the corridor besides them.

Midnight had four minutes, at most one more. She would not have time to catch any of the actual play. She sighed and raised a hoof. The attendant's spell took her away. She thanked him and made her way through the doors out of the room. The opera building was quite beautiful once given the proper time. Golden filaments traced and spiraled across the marble walls and pillars supporting them. Each year, another fresco was allegedly added to the wide ceiling. The walls were already covered in paintings, pictures of earlier performances.

One more minute. Midnight helped herself to the purse of one mare that looked even more decadent than the others and kept going. It was her own fault for letting her guard down. Midnight passed the registers when the screams started behind her, from two sources. The night welcomed her outside, as did the mare that walked through the door with her. "An ingenious distraction, to start another panic so they do not realise the real one."

Despite the many torches, magical and otherwise, that burned around them, Midnight could not see farther than her next step. The purse within her magic held a blinding glint. "What to do with this?"

The mare's features rose. Everything else was caught in static. "You may keep the money. Leave the rest. We have no need to be thieves."

A moment of consideration. Midnight emptied the purse and left it on the corner of the opera house's front stairs. "Is this our life?"

"It is mine." Midnight's hooves lost the ground. She was gently set onto the mare's back. "It does not have to be my daughter's."

Midnight woke up fighting for air. She struggled and dropped out of bed. Only then were her lungs satisfied, though she was left coughing with a racing heart.

Feels like I have not breathed the entire night.

You certainly did. A fair amount even.

How much is that from your ethereal perspective?

Enough to avoid long-term effects, if exposure is kept short.

Midnight caught herself at last and worked herself onto her hooves. The weather outside had not changed much since the last morning nor, as the mirror told her, had the state of her mane after sleep. In fact, both had worsened.

What is it today, then?

The door is ringing.

It is indeed. I should prepare for morning visitors.

Less so than you would expect.

Out of the many options for making herself look less horrible, brushing through her mane with all of her might seemed to be the most efficient one. There were a dozen more flaws that Midnight should correct, but she hoped that the visitor would not spot them. She had at most another minute until she would be called. Using it was key.

Are you innocently ignorant or do you just play the part to appease your mind?

Do you know everything?

Factual matter, I do. That is irrelevant. You understand too little.

What is the number I am thinking?

Princess, you should realise how pointless this is when I am within your mind. I can literally read your thought. Your friend will be thinking of the number five, then seven.

I will ask her.

If only you did.

The call came. Midnight teleported into the hallway below. Emma already stood in the open door. "Took you long enough. Were you sleeping again?"

"No, not entirely. We never agreed on a date." Midnight glanced to the side, to the kitchen clock. "Besides, noon time is the only time to get up."

It is horrible when they awaken you at that time, let me tell you.

"You could also have been up for seven hours yet, meditating, speaking to the powers that are. Your room is still in the same place?" Emma pushed past her into the house without invitation, though her father had likely given one. Her mane was pure silk when it brushed into Midnight's chest. She had only a moment to keep her in sight as the stairs swallowed her afterwards. Midnight teleported ahead, back into her room.

I always thought such blonde manes just came with the quality of being pure straw. How does she keep it so groomed?

They keep themselves clean so they look at least presentable when they have to stand in a storm and save the world.

Hm.

She approaches.

Emma came in through the door and sat down on the bed, just next to Midnight. "Arcane ponies as hosts. That is always the same thing, not? Is there any place where you are not before I get there?"

"Not many, no." Without many better things to do, Midnight nibbled on Emma's mane.

You are needed. Stop wasting time.

I knew she used peach shampoo. What a sin.

Midnight snapped out of her fantasy back into reality. "Do you have anything in mind besides failing to teach me elemental magic?"

Emma's ears dropped. "Not much." They came back up as she scanned the room, from the window to the desk to the odd pile of dolls Midnight had kept for some reason. "I am not feeling anything. Is there a fire ward in place here as the law demands?"

"There might be." Midnight tried to recall both whether they had ever had such a spell installed and the standard spell for detecting lingering magic. Neither came to her.

Emma's horn glowed in bright gold for a moment, then waves of the same gold ran through the room and up the walls. "Now there is. You cannot have enough safety in playing with fire."

"You are hopeful," said Midnight. The blinds on the window and balcony door closed at her command. "Arcane magic is far better. You do not have to convince anyone, you just command it and it happens."

"But that would be boring. Come on!" A jolt came down Midnight's spine and forced her onto her hooves. She doubted it was from nature alone. "We both have much to learn!"

"See, it is simple." Emma guided and positioned Midnight's hooves as if they were in any way relevant for spellcasting. "You already know the wind spell. Keep it circling and make the vortex obey you."

"It is getting really hot in here." Midnight tried her best to keep casting without losing focus. She knew opening the window was no option. Sparks were the least that could escape.

This platform is unstable! Act before it becomes disposable!

A moment's notice stretched into eternity. She broke the spell she had been trying to accomplish. Then Midnight fell.

"This one's timeline is abnormal."

Not strange enough. There are always variables.

Darkness, and only a whisper to fill it.

"You believe in her? The weak ones' survival is not strategic!"

She deserves it.

"Very well. Make it happen."

At your command, solstice queen.

"We should have been gentler. I had no idea she was this fragile."

"She is not."

Midnight's eyes opened, knowing that she would still be blind. The light was too much for her. Someone had undone all of the blinds. The sun shone directly onto her. Someone had placed her on her bed. Those two ponies were now bent over her. "Ever implying I am fragile is reason enough for a slapping. Come forth, who committed it." She tried to bend forward to dispense justice, but her own body and her father's hoof taught her to stay down.

"Your dad is awesome! He was here in no time at all and told me what to do before I could even explain it all," swooned Emma. She retreated from the bed. "Do not want to be in the way of medical stuff. You do your thing, sir."

"That is too much respect, Emma. I am afraid you are most likely right." Though he was gentle as always, Midnight felt discomfort from her father's examinations just out of principle. "I feel fine, let me be!"

His hooves arrived at her heart. "I have a doctor's degree, young ladies. I will use it." The light was still too much for her. He did not let her close the blinds, however. They only dropped far enough to put her face into shadow before his interference blocked her spell.

"Yeah, so do I. I am fine." She pulled herself up to sit on the edge of the bed. With a bit of luck and being able to rest her head on his shoulders, she managed to stay up. "Are you disappointed? With what happened?" whispered she.

"I cannot say that. She detailed her entire plan as you were getting ready. It is her role to teach and yours to learn," he returned, just as quiet. He grasped her chest in some form of hug and brought her back onto her hooves. "If you are done setting things on fire, the view off the mountain is awesome today. In case one of you likes quiet contemplation, or to share it."

Oh you are the devil after all.

Stealing my job, he is!