Midnight

Beyond what I could ever fathom, the Mercury Marauder grille in my hands has taken the better part of three hours to remove. Hidden, rusted screws, intertwined pieces that required removal as well...

What a nightmare. But I have it, and it's in good shape with no casualties aside from my sanity. Trekking back now to the Trailduster, I see another night mare taking refuge in the back amongst a pile of parts. Starla sits beside Midnight, though closer to the tailgate with her back turned, apparently inspecting some of the odds and ends that have been collected thus far. She's removed her hat for the time being, letting it sit precariously close to the corner of the tailgate.

The reason Midnight is facing outward is obvious as I get close enough to read her face – she's got a look of overwhelming smugness while awaiting my eventual arrival. "I didn't realize Starla was going to be picking up your slack today," she croons once I'm only a few feet away.

Rather than answer verbally, I offer up universal sign language to Midnight – the middle finger. Starla turns around with a smile – only to feign a gasp of horror as she spies my message for Middie.

"Such language," she tsks, shaking her head before shifting her attention to my haul. "Is that really a whole piece?"

"Yes – and it was an incredibly stubborn piece to remove, hence my... 'slacking.'" I make sure to let my eyes linger on Midnight for an extended period of time after that.

For a brief moment, her smirk grows wider before relenting on the attitude. "Come on, you know I'm just screwing with you."

"I'm well aware," I concede, slipping the grille between Midnight and the side of the truck bed as she watches on with passive interest. "Hopefully you two did in fact have a better run at it than I did. And not just to rub it in my face."

"Yeah, we actually got a lot of our half of the list pulled. Having a toolmare assisting me meant I spent less time digging through my tools – which mind you, I try to keep organized," she affirms, before sliding off to the side. "Take a look at what we got so far."

"Toolmare!" Starla cheers in delight, clapping her hooves together. "I like the name!"

Midnight's face lights up with the enthusiasm Starla has for her nickname. "We both decided to take a bit of a break since we're a bit ahead of schedule. And I don't want you feeling left out and bored later on if we start tackling your side of the list."

"Aww, that's so considerate of you," I comment, heaping on the sarcasm.

"Yeah, I know – all for one and all that happy shit. But maybe you and Starla should team up for a couple of hours to get you back on track, hm?"

It's a suggestion that comes straight out of left field – even though it was mentioned earlier in the day as a possibility, the general chumminess and boasting of how well it's been going thus far make it now seem out of place. In addition, her voice drops the sass she's been rolling with since our little interaction began. Even Starla is blindsided, as her face falters with an inkling of concern...

"Are you sure, Midnight?" Starla asks, making her uncertainty clear by tone alone.

"Yeah, I am. I have some stuff to think about," Midnight replies, her voice dropping in volume. "Wouldn't be fair to have to along with me while I'm silently in deep thought."

"Is this about—"

"It is. But I'm fine," Midnight interrupts her. "It's not really a bad thing. I just think I would do well with some time alone. That's all."

Despite Midnight's short explanation, Starla's shoulders slump in defeat as what's left of her smile fades away. But Middie takes note right away, fanning out a wing to embrace her friend. "It's not your fault. I promise we're good," she reassures Starla.

I'm lost during this whole exchange. Clearly, something happened in those first few hours, but I can't make heads or tails of what it may have been. But Midnight was quick to cut off Starla's inquiry, likely to keep me in the dark. Still, one misses one hundred percent of the shots he or she doesn't make. The festive atmosphere surrounding Starla's visit has suddenly soured, and I'm anxious to understand why.

"Can someone fill me in a bit on what's going on?" I ask, trying to slather on the politeness in hopes it will get me further.

"I'll explain it to you this evening, John. Just... not right now," Midnight answers calmly. Still, within that response is a stern undertone that lets me know while she understands my concern, she will not budge from her decision.

"As long as you're alright, I'll roll with it for now. But I will hold you to that, Middie," I warn her.

"That makes two of us," Starla steps in, agreeing with a sharp nod as she raises her head and locks eyes with me.

"You have my word – both of you," Midnight responds, glancing at me, then at Starla before her solemn face regains some semblance of positive emotion – or mischief. "I think John really needs your help anyway, Star. Maybe you can help him get more than one job done in three hours."

"Hey, kiss my ass."

"I'm gonna pass on that," Midnight retorts, purposely lacking interest as she leaps off the tailgate, her toolbag floating to catch up with her. "I'm gonna go ahead and get back to work – I'll see you two later."

"Hold on – you gotta let me know what all has been done," I remind her. "I don't feel like having to run an inventory of the back, since it really does look like you two got quite a bit accomplished."

Midnight halts mid-step and turns around, her ears pinned back as she offers a sheepish grin. "Oh, right. We got all the LTD stuff, Fairlane rear bumper, and everything that was needed off of the full-size Chevrolets," she quickly rails off.

"Sounds like you went after a lot of easy jobs, making me look bad," I comment knowingly, crossing my arms.

She scoffs at the accusation, rolling her eyes. "You know as well as I do no job is guaranteed to be easy. It's the luck of the draw," she protests.

"Yet, strangely enough, you're getting pretty defensive here. Almost like I caught you."

"Well... work smarter, not harder," she mutters, averting her eyes.

"I love how you're such a sore loser."

"You know what? I think I'm going to go after the Nova stuff and the Ventura trim," she threatens, holding her head high now. "You only have yourself to blame."

"You're just proving me right by taking more easy jobs that have a wider selection of cars to choose from."

With things seeming to get back to normal, Starla gas perked up with amusement at the banter between Midnight and me, offering a few guffaws through the back-and-forth.

This little delay has lingered long enough for Midnight, who continues to suppress the formation of a genuine smile as she directs her eyes toward Starla. "Good luck dealing with John. You have my sincerest apologies."

"Oh stop it," Starla scolds her, forming an exaggerated creased brow and frown to match. "I think we're going to make a great team."

"You're gonna see how much of a pain in the ass he really can be," Midnight warns her. "Anyway, I'm off – see you later."

Midnight takes a turn and squeezes between two cars, setting off for a row further into the yard. And leaving me with Starla – a pony I still don't know that well, even after a night's stay.

"So, you seemed kinda concerned like I am – what was that all about?" I ask her, scratching the back of my head with unease. "What's she got on her mind?"

Unfortunately, Starla closes her eyes and shakes her head. "That's for Midnight to share, not me," she states. "It's only fair since she promised she would explain later."

"Alright, I guess I really can't argue against that," I surrender, allowing Starla to relax as she opens her eyes again. "So you're with me now, eh?"

Starla hums in approval as she leaps off the tailgate just as Middie did just moments ago. The good vibes of the day return as she poses with her chest thrust out. "I'll help out however I can – fetch tools, search for parts, whatever you need!"

"Well, I'm ready when you're ready."

Spurred by my announcement, Starla turns back to the truck to fetch her hat. She nips the brim of it with her teeth and tosses it up into the air; with practiced precision, Starla ducks under it and catches it atop her head, looking the same as it did earlier when she first had it on. "I'm set – where are we off to?" she asks, making no note of her neat little move.

"I still have more Mercury parts on the list – dashboard instrument cluster from a Monterey, and front bumper brackets and a steering column from a Montego," I rail off in succession, knowing Starla probably doesn't understand the models or what they look like.

"So the same make you were working on – that means it's not a far walk, huh?" Starla comments with confidence, pointing a hoof off in the direction I walked from earlier.

"It wouldn't be a long hike, but we're gonna take the truck. I don't like the sounds of lugging that steering column around more than I have to, and who knows what tools I'm gonna need to pry it loose," I explain, ushering her toward the passenger side of the Trailduster.

"But won't Midnight have to walk farther if we take the truck with us?"

"Midnight didn't list off what she has to pull from those cars – there's a lot, which is why it was fun giving her shit about the 'easy' jobs," I admit as I pop open the passenger door for Starla. She leaps up into the cab and gets seated, reaching a hoof through the open window to hook the door and close it without my assistance.

Alright, so she can do quite a bit herself. I didn't expect that one – but nonetheless, there's work to be done. I circle around the truck and hop inside before I continue my explanation. "I'm going to bet we will be done with our three items before she's finished – we'll pick her up. And she's still stubborn and doesn't mind the walking anyway."

"Oh, I guess I should have expected you two to have a system all worked out – especially since you've been doing it day in, day out for a while now."

I nod, but now I'm starting to feel a bit awkward; without Midnight here in the cab, I've got to step up and try to start some conversation – and get to know her as something other than 'Midnight's friend.'

There's at least one subject I know I can get the ball rolling fairly easily...

"So I gather cooking is your big passion, huh?"

"Oh, absolutely!" she crows, her eyes lighting up at the mere mention of cooking. "I do hope Midnight passed on the grocery list to you."

"Yep, I think we got it all," I confirm, starting the engine of the truck and working on turning around. "By the sounds of it, you're gonna show Midnight a thing or two so she can do something aside from microwaveable bacon."

"Mhm. It's why I brought multiple bags with me – a lot of utensils and tools I use at home."

"Aww, you didn't have to do that. I got quite a bit of stuff that you would need."

"Midnight said you did a little bit of cooking – but she didn't go into detail," Starla replies, looking out the windshield as I finally get us headed in the right direction. "I wanted to be sure I had what I needed."

"I can do a little bit of everything I guess – nothing particularly fancy, but I have most of the basic utensils, I think. You're more than welcome to use them rather than have to pull everything out of your bag," I offer.

"That's very kind of you, and thank you," she says, bowing her head. "But a lot of my stuff is... well, it's tailored to my lack of hands. Some stuff Teddy has been able to put together for me with his background working on mechanical gizmos. But a lot of my other tools have plenty of teeth marks, and I don't want to do that to your cookware. Really makes me jealous of what Midnight can do..."

As Starla trails off and her bubbly voice loses some steam, I look over to see her suddenly wince as she stares straight ahead. "Hey, you okay?" I ask, my stomach knotting at the sight and the sudden change.

"Y-yeah, sorry – thought I saw something," she answers without hesitation as her focus snaps back to me. "But anyway, I'm really looking forward to what I can show you two. You've been showing and explaining so much to me in the short amount of time I've been here."

I nod and play it casual, letting her little slip-up fall by the wayside. But it's going to eat at me today until Midnight tells me what happened.

Did they have a fight or something? They seemed fine when I was walking back to the truck...

I dunno. I guess I have to play the waiting game. I'll make the most of it, and try not to focus too hard on what the evening will bring.