Midnight Snack

Near the edge of Ponyville, stood a five-stable tall tower. This was the home and place of business of Midnight Blaze, a sapphire blue unicorn with a black mane highlighted a dark blue. His cutie mark was a pale white-blue crescent moon facing upwards enclosing a five point-star surrounded by five twinkles, reflecting both his talent for magic, and his lunar pony lineage. He'd settled in Ponyville last year and started his own magic shop called "Into the Mystic," which he ran from the ground floor.

Very quickly, it became rather popular with the locals, who were fascinated by Midnight's merchandise. Tools, doodads, gimmicks, baubles, toys, potions, furniture, tableware, powders, lotions, elixirs, doohickeys, whatchamacallits, and so much more, all crafted, made, brewed, or fabricated by Midnight himself. Every single one of his wares were magical and useful for something.

Many of his wares were his own invention, and all-too-quickly the unicorn had become well-known for his merchandise and many of his wares were in demand.

The problem was the supply. Midnight had to make his wares himself, which took time. Not to mention finding the right materials and ingredients for them, which was harder and sometimes very expensive.

Then there was the experimentation. The trial and error, figuring out what worked and what didn't. As a matter of fact, some of Midnight's best works had resulted from a mistake or an accident. Midnight was just glad he'd paid attention in his classes, and as a result of his hard work he'd graduated with honors. He was the top Enchanter and Alchemist in his class, along with rewards for Transmutation and Abjuration. His knowledge and skills in these arts of magic were crucial and necessary to his work.

Oh, he'd gotten recommendations, offers and such, but Midnight had no interest in working for some greedy company or devoting himself to "serving and protecting" Equestria.

No, he just wanted to experiment and refine his magical skills, make a good living with his work, and enjoy his new life in Ponyville. And frankly, he was off to a promising start.

Business in Midnight's store was usually busy on a good day, but it would slow or speed up, depending on occasions or certain times of the year. Today though, business was so slow-going that Midnight had only had one customer all day, which caused him to shrug before thinking; 'Perhaps I'll get get back to that...'

Ding!

The bell that rang when his door opened caught his attention, and Midnight turned to see a lunar pegasus walk in. A stallion with a dark gray coat and a purple mane so dark it almost appeared black at a glance, that was pierced through by his bright golden eyes that were slitted like a cat's. A cutie mark depicting a baton crossed with a set of hoofcuffs adorned his flanks.

"Specter! What brings you by, buddy?" Midnight smirked to see one of his best friends.

Giving the unicorn a teasing smirk, Specter replied, “Just stopping by to see if you’ve gone out of business yet.”

"Even if I have, I've padded quite a hefty account to go on a nice, long vacation," Midnight responded, and the two shared a friendly chuckle.

“I do actually have something in mind,” Specter nodded with a twinge of discomfort, stretching a stiff wing. “Do you have anything that can block a unicorn’s magic?”

"Well, that depends," Midnight looked behind the counter where his register was. "I have amulets and talismans enchanted with protective wards and blessings, but it really depends on what sort of magic a unicorn uses against you."

“Nothing too complex,” Specter replied, carefully folding back the wing with a wince. “Let me just say, unruly drunk unicorns are not fun to deal with.”

"Well, if they're punks with lousy spellcasting skills..." Midnight considered before looking through his merch before coming back up with a faux-leather band that had a sapphire on it, held in place with silver fastening. "This should suffice. I enchanted it with a Ward of Magical Resistance, there's a charm to alert you of imminent danger, like if someone's trying to attack you from behind, and you needn't worry about it running out of energy. Just set the sapphire in view of the moonlight at night so it can recharge.

"Oh, and it has a little glamour so no one but you can see it after you put it on your foreleg. But be careful because they can still touch it if they get their hooves on you."

“Well, I was looking for more of an area-of-effect sorta thing?" Specter clarified before wearily recounting, "You see, I was on patrol last night, and this drunken fool trashed nearly half a block before I got to him. Was almost on him until he decided to turn me into a living pinball. It would be nice to be able to put a stop to something like this before it gets out of hand…

"Then I also recommend this," Midnight levitated up what looked to be a stud earring with a little topaz in it. "This magnetic earring will render the wearer immune to a unicorn's telekinetic influence, so they won't be able to touch or move you against your will using their magic. This one however will feed on a tiny trickle of your own magic in order to maintain its strength. The more it resists on your behalf the more of your energy it will need."

"Combined with the band, both talismans will afford you some limited resistance to magic in general."

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Specter answered, tossing a heavy coin purse on the counter. Deftly, he snatched the earring and clipped it onto his right ear, that magnet holding it comfortably in place as he flashed a toothy grin. “Hit me with your best shot!”

In response to Specter's challenge, Midnight made a token effort and launched a pulse of telekinetic force equivalent to a hard shove. Specter felt it, but it was almost like water, as it washed over him and he didn't feel any discomfort at all.

"Whoa! That... that was like getting hit by a strong breeze, didn't hurt at all!" Specter chuckled, reaching up to touch the earring on his ear, "With this thing, I'll be-"

A bouncy ball flew out of nowhere and smacked the lunar pegasus in the schnozz, making him grimace and touch his snoot, not so much from the pain, but the surprise; though it did sting quite a bit, "...ow! What the fudge, mane?!"

"Telekinesis used directly against you won't work as long as you wear the earring," Midnight clarified with a cheeky fanged smirk, "but unicorns can still use telekinesis to throw things at you."

"Urgh, noted..." Specter wiggled his nose, shaking it off.

"Also, remember, the earring uses energy from you in order to protect you from direct telekinesis," Midnight warned. "If constant telekinesis is used directly on you long enough, the earring will sap your energy and tire you out. You could even be rendered unconscious, at which point the earring will fall off."

“AGH! Yes... I’ll keep that in mind.” Specter mumbled, still rubbing his nose as the pain dulled away to nothing. "So! You free for patrol tonight or...?"

"I think I can make it tonight, though I am working on a little something," Midnight replied. "Haven't worked it out completely, but it gives me the opportunity to refine my skill with a certain spell."

"Oh? Do tell." Though not a unicorn, Specter was always amazed by his friend's magic.

"Trade secret. Though, I can tell you that it involves some size magic, and has the potential to revolutionize the culinary arts," Midnight answered with a wink.

"Fine then, keep your secrets." Specter replied with a fang filled scowl, staring him down for a moment before his face lit up again, and they shared another laugh. "Well, I'd better get going, it is afternoon after all, and my bed is calling to me. See you on patrol tonight!"

And with that Specter turned and trotted out the door with another ding.

"But I didn't promise anyth..." Midnight went to reply with an outstretched hoof, but the lunar pony was already long gone.

Hours dragged by. By the time mid-afternoon rolled around, the only other customers Midnight had attended to were a purple earth pony asking about hangover cures, and a amber brown pegasus who inquired about magical contraceptives. (As if he'd carry such a thing). With a sigh, he decided to close up shop early. Flipping the sign on the door from open to closed, he headed down to his basement where he'd set up his workshop.

Hey, more time to work on the project, he supposed to himself, and with an early start he should be done in plenty of time to help out with that patrol.