Ch.14 - Box of Chocolates for Your Thoughts?
"You don't think it's too little?" Midnight asked as she paced the kitchen.
"Midnight, relax. She'll love it," Summer told her, trying to use her magic to hold the kirin still. It didn't work, like she knew it wouldn't, but holding her daughter in place hadn't been her goal. She'd learned that, to the kirin, it was more akin to placing a comforting hoof on her whither.
Arina, sitting on Midnight's head, chirped and stroked her bangs.
"But all we're doing is walking around town all day! We do that practically every night! I should be taking her into Canterlot to a fancy restaurant and spending the night at a fancy hotel! This just seems... lazy."
"I'm sure Sapphire would appreciate it, what with that seemingly bottomless bit pouch of yours," Summer said flatly.
Midnight stopped pacing and, not for the first time, gave her mother a sheepish, guilty look. A second, considerably larger paycheck for being the captain of a secret guard and selling off a few gems that Celestia gave her to eat wasn't something a woodcutter usually had going for them. "Right..." was all Midnight said."Well, maybe not the fanciest restaurant; and a hotel in the capital would be a bit much..."
"Just a little," Summer agreed.
"But still," Midnight pressed.
"You're giving her your undivided attention for a full day and doing whatever she wants to do with you," Summer said. "That's a pretty nice gift if you ask me. Besides, what if she is giving you a fancy dinner and hotel room?"
"I'd probably tell her to save her money and just get me a bag of sapphires," Midnight said, seeing where her mother was going with this. "Alright, alright, I won't say anything else about it." She opened the fridge. "Breakfast, or did Orange already serve you in bed? What are you two doing today, anyway?"
"I like to wash the sheets only once a week and Orange knows it, so no, I haven't had anything yet, and yes, I'd love a quick bite before the train up to Canterlot."
Midnight gave a snort. "Oh, so when I actually want to go to Canterlot, I'm a thoughtless spender, but when you want to go..."
"It's just coincidence," Summer told her. "Fancy Pants wants to go over a list of my current clients to see if he can use them in any of his other projects. After that we'll just be spending the day together, wandering the parks and eating at a nice, out of the way place for dinner, then a train ride home where we'll curl up together next to the fire place. A nice, simple, relaxing day together."
"When you put it that way, it does sound nice," Midnight said.
Summer, with years of experience, could just see the darkening of the black fur on her daughter's cheeks as she blushed. It warmed her to see Midnight so happy, after all the years they spent fighting and then her just disappearing. Times like these, she could almost forget that time had ever happened.
"So, you want tomatoes or peppers with your eggs?" Midnight asked, brandishing the cutting knife she'd just retrieved from the utensil draw.
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Sapphire's wings and heart fluttered as she returned home from dropping Squeaks off at school. She just knew Midnight would love the chocolate covered sapphires and the bottles of guava and mango juice she'd gotten.
Her thoughts of thank you hugs and kisses were derailed when she opened the side door.
"I told you, it's fine!"
"And I said I could make my own breakfast!"
"Not in my house you can't!"
"Oh dear," Sapphire mumbled as she entered the house to find Midnight and Summer arguing and flailing about next to the counter. Arina was hopping from head to head, her chirps a mix of anger and confusion. "Not again."
"I just don't want you to accidently hurt yourself!"
"I have fangs and claws and a freaking TAIL BLADE. If I wanted to hurt myself, I sure as Tartarus wouldn't need a knife!"
"Summer!" Sapphire called, loud enough to be heard. Midnight, Summer, and Arina stopped to look over at her. "Could you help me out with something? I think I can manage by myself, but I'm a little worried I might drop something coming down the stairs."
Summer looked between the kirin and the pegasus a few times, then sighed. "Alright," she said in a defeated tone, letting her magical grip on the knife fade as she followed Sapphire up the stairs. The sound of chopping followed them up to Sapphire's room where she pulled the two bottles and basket out of her closet. She could have held a bottle under each wing and the basket in her mouth but this way would pull Summer away from Midnight long enough to allow her to finish whatever she was making. She'd done this several times now and she'd tried to ask Summer why she seemed so scared of Midnight holding a knife.
"Just a mother worrying," Summer had said, too quick to be anything other than a deflection. She hadn't tried to ask Midnight about it yet, sensing that it might just make her withdrawn again for a while, but with this latest outburst she was determined to figure out why, if only so she could try and help.
Midnight's face, at seeing her gifts, was enough to dispel the worry from Sapphire's mind, even more so was the face Midnight made when she popped one of the chocolate covered sapphires into her mouth. "So good..." she moaned, making Sapphire giggle.
"I'll leave you two alone then," Summer said with a cough and seeing herself out.
Sapphire blushed with embarrassment, which quickly changed when Midnight pulled her into a hug. "Best Hearts and Hooves Day presents ever."
"I'm glad you like them," Sapphire said, nuzzling into the kirin's chest.
"Kinda makes mine seem sucky by comparison," Midnight continued unhappily.
Sapphire leaned back to look up at her. "Which is?"
Midnight fidgeted uncomfortably. "Well..." 'Mom, I am going to kill you. Slowly, and in great pain.' "... I was planning to take us around town, all day, and just, you know, hang out together?"
Sapphire just blinked at her.
"I-I'll get you whatever you want!" Midnight added quickly. "W-We can go to the jewelry store or the flower shop or-!" She stopped when a light blue hoof placed itself over her mouth.
"You mean your gift is a day of uninterrupted time together, just the two of us?" Sapphire asked.
Midnight nodded weakly.
Sapphire leaned up to her ear. "Roseluck told me how she and the girls have a surplus of tiger lilies; maybe we'll have those for breakfast under that secluded willow tree in the park first?" she whispered.
"Okay," Midnight squeaked.
Arina quickly skittered off Midnight; she could tell when she was becoming a third wheel. Besides, Squeaky usually spoiled her when Midnight was away.
Sapphire chuckled and kissed her. "We better get moving before we lose the spot."
"Right!" Midnight said, grabbing her saddle bags and quickly following the pegasus out the door. 'I take it back; I'll make it quick.'
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"I don't know about this," Squeaks said, dubious of the liquid being mixed in the pitcher. Arina chirped in agreement.
With only a half day thanks to the holiday, she, the rest of the pillow knights, and the CMC were all out doing their own thing for the afternoon, under the unofficial supervision of the magical spider. However, what would have been an afternoon of games with her friends became a mission.
A mission of love.
Once they heard that Miss Cheerilee didn't have a special somepony for Hearts and Hooves Day, they had all decided to find her one. An energetic and somewhat confusing hunt through town had ended with them finding only Big Mac without a special somepony of his own.
Now that they had the players, they just needed an arena. An empty gazebo at a nearby park was quickly claimed by the fillies and while Twist went to fetch Cheerilee and Apple Bloom Big Mac, the rest of them set about setting up a romantic picnic. Several times they had to chase off couples who had wandered toward the gazebo, including Midnight and Sapphire.
"Sorry mom but we need it," Squeaks told them, ears and wings wilting, unhappy with the idea of shooing her mom and Sapphire away.
"It's alright Squeaks," Midnight said, tussling her mane and careful to avoid hitting her pet. "Just don't get obsessed with this whole thing; try finding your own special somepony after this."
"Were you serious about Squeaky finding a special somepony for herself?" Sapphire asked as they went away laughing.
Midnight stared ahead, blinked, then shook her head. "Nope, just caught up with the holiday."
'She's going to be as bad as some fathers; I can already tell' Sapphire thought, rubbing up against the kirin and kissing her cheek.
Just as the plates were being set down, Cheerilee and Big Mac showed up with Twist and Apple Bloom in toe. Despite the suspicious looks, and exasperated ones for Apple Bloom, it looked like both adults would actually get into the spirit of things.
For about five seconds.
Their big plan a bust, the group of fillies trudged through town looking dejected until a run in with Twilight renewed their hopes with the idea of a love potion, which they were now mixing the required ingredients to make.
"Why not? A little love potion never hurt anypony," Apple Bloom said as she stirred.
"Besides, Twilight said that this whole thing started with a love potion; we're just following in tradition," Sweetie Belle said, a big smile on her face. She had been the most disappointed their first attempt hadn't worked.
"And they look really nice together," Pinchy agreed.
"Yeah, but isn't this like forcing them? What if Cheerilee actually likes mares?" Squeaks asked.
"My mom thayth love potionth thould be illegal," Twist said, also looking nervous.
"And won't we get in trouble for doing this without their permission?" asked Dinky.
"Oh come on," Scootaloo said with a snort. "They're perfect together and the book says it wears off in an hour; how much harm could an hour do?"
Squeaks, Dinky, and Twist looked at each other.
"I think mom said something about saying stuff like that," Squeaks muttered.
Arina tapped Squeaks' ear and the filly held up a hoof for her to climb on to. Bringing her to eye level, the spider tapped under one of her eyes.
Squeaks bit her lip. She didn't exactly like the idea her friends had come up with but she didn't want to be a tattle tale. "Not yet," she told Arina. "Let's wait and see first. Maybe this time things will work out right."
Arina's eyes tabled but she crawled back onto Squeaks' head. Maybe this time would indeed turn out fine.
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"That was weird," Derpy said, sucking on her milkshake.
Midnight snorted in exasperation. "Yep, so now, not only can she juggle large, dangerous, magical creatures, she can also time travel. Perfect." With that said, she flopped her head down onto the table. She and Sapphire had run into Derpy doing some shopping and they'd stopped to have some milkshakes with her.
Sapphire stroked her with a wing. "You have to admit Midnight; your face when Cerberus jumped out was kinda funny."
"Wouldn't have been funny if he started eating ponies," Midnight retorted. Then again, she had broken one of her own rules.
"Twilight, seriously, nothing bad is going to happen," she'd told the unicorn after Twilight had spent the day running around Ponyville trying to enlist every pony she'd run across to fix every little thing wrong with the town and spouting about doom and gloom come that Tuesday. Midnight had finally gotten a firm hold on her and had tried to calm her down until she'd uttered that sentence and a massive three-headed dog had jumped over some houses. Midnight's face had been one of shock, fear, and are you kidding me?
"As much as I'd like to know what other emergencies Pinkie is ready for, I don't think my mind would survive," Midnight muttered.
"I'm still concerned about why he wasn't at his post," Sapphire said. "Someone, or something, might have gotten out."
"I'd like to think that there's more in place guarding such things then an oversized mutt," Berry said, getting up from the table. "Well, I need to do some inventory; have a fun day you two."
"Do you think there's more guarding the things down there?" Derpy asked as Berry walked away.
"Hope that there is, but prepared if there isn't," Midnight said. "Besides, they can't be that big of a threat. Discord wasn't down there and I could have beaten the dog to a pulp as a wyvern, so anything he's guarding can't be worse than a rabid manticore."
"Let's hope so," Sapphire said uncertainly.
Midnight snorted again. "The CMC and Pillow Knights cause more havoc than Cerberus did; I feel pretty good about that bet."
"Mom!"
They all turned to see Squeaks running towards them, Arina holding onto her ear tuffs to keep from falling off.
Midnight turned back to them, a grin fighting with a look of resignation for dominance of her face. "See?"
"Mom!" the bat filly repeated, skidding to a halt by her side.
"What's up Squeaks?"
"We were trying to get Miss Cheerilee and Big Mac together for Hearts and Hooves Day but it didn't work so Twilight told us how the holiday got started so we made a love potion that was only suppose to work for an hour but Scootaloo read it wrong and we actually made a love poison and now they can't stop looking at each other but they need to stop looking at each other for an hour for it to wear off and we're trying but I don't think we can without your help and I should have let Arina let you see what we were doing but I didn't want to be a tattle tale and I really thought things would work out this time and I'm really really REALLY sorry!" The little thestral sucked in a huge breath. She'd decided on the way over to just tell her mom and Sapphire the whole story and hope for the best; things were bad enough as it was.
Midnight, Sapphire, and Derpy looked at each other, then back at the filly. Midnight looked up at Arina and sighed at the shrug the spider gave her.
"Squeaks, I'm glad you came to me, even if it's later than you should have, but you DO know you're still in trouble, right?"
Squeaks nodded sadly.
Taking a final sip of her own milkshake, Midnight got up to follow the filly. Sapphire did the same.
"Do you want me to come, too?" Derpy asked.
"No, you have work to do," Midnight told her, laying some bits on the table. "If it's really that bad we'll bring Dinky to you."
"It's not that bad, is it Squeaky?" Sapphire asked, trying to get the filly to not look so down.
"Not yet..." Squeaks said, unsure. "When I left Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Pinchy, they had Big Mac tied up at the jewelry store. I don't think they can keep him there, though."
"Alright Squeaks," Midnight said, sharing a look with Sapphire and beginning to trot down the way Squeaks had come. "I want you to tell us everything from the beginning."
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It was a good thing Squeaks had gotten them when she did. While Sapphire flew off to Carousel Boutique to help control Cheerilee, Midnight and Squeaks ran into Big Mac being chased by the three fillies who were supposed to be keeping him away.
"I got him," Midnight said, spreading her wings wide as she stood her ground directly in front of a hopping Big Mac. "Alright lover boy, that's far enou-oof!" Not breaking his pace, the large stallion knocked her to the ground, then hopped on top of her, eliciting and loud, pained grunt from the kirin, before hopping on as if she'd never been there.
"What happened!?" Squeaks yelled as the others caught up.
"He gave us the slip at the jewelry store!" Scoots said, catching her breath.
"How's he so fast!?" Pinchy asked.
"Mah brother's real slippery when he wants to be," Apple Bloom said. "Ah told ya to keep a good eye on him!"
"Not the time for arguing girls," Midnight said as she picked herself up. "I'll slow him down; you four figure out a way to restrain him. You said this thing only lasts an hour?" All four fillies nodded. "How much longer do we have?"
They all looked at the town clock tower. "Less than ten minutes!" Apple Bloom said, a smile returning to her face.
Midnight nodded. "Alright, then let's not mess this up now, get moving!"
The fillies nodded and bolted off. Midnight took to the air and shot after Big Mac. When she caught up, she hovered in front of him, careful not to get to close. "Big Mac, buddy, things are a bit weird right now so how about we stop and talk about it?" Nothing. "Granny Smith says she needs your help right now!" Still nothing. "Sweet Apple Acres is on fire and burning to the ground!" He let out a contented sigh. "Oh, come o-!"
*Wham*
"Ow..." Midnight moaned as she slid down the tree she'd just back-winged into. 'You girls just HAD to do something today, didn't you?'
Said girls ran past her, carrying a long, thick piece of rope. "Alright, tie one end around that building there!" Apple Bloom said as she began twirling the lassoed end. She threw straight and true once she got the signal and the rope went taught as it caught Big Mac's yoke. "YES!" they all chorused when it seemed they'd finally stopped him.
"Hey, this is my house!" Pinchy said as she took another look at the building.
As if summoned, Berry stuck her head out of an upstairs window. "Pinchy what's going on?" Before the filly could answer, the building started to groan. A second after that, it broke off its foundation and was being dragged down the street, the sound of bottles breaking coming from inside after every yank. "PINCHY!" Berry yelled.
"It's not my fault!" Pinchy yelled back as they took chase again. "Mostly!"
A black blur shot past and hit Big Mac, staggering him but not stopping his forward momentum.
"Let's see how you deal with a kirin on your back!" Midnight yelled, wrapping her legs around his barrel and flapping her wings backward. Her tail flailed around, trying to hit one of his legs with the flat side to trip him up.
All this finally seemed to get his attention as he began to try and buck Midnight off. "Oh... no... you... don't!" Midnight grunted, holding on for dear life. "I'm... not... that... easy... to... lose!" Unfortunately, his bucking proved too much for the kirin to handle. One buck brought Big Mac's head back into Midnight's face, making her reel back in pain and loosening her hold on him. A second buck hit her in the gut, winding her and making her let go entirely. Finally, a double-hoofed kick sent her flying back into Berry's house, impacting just below one of the second floor windows.
"Midnight?" Berry said as she stuck her head out of the window, then winced when she saw her friend stuck in the side of the building.
"All of them..." she grunted, "...grounded... at least a week..."
"I'm sure I'm going to agree with you," Berry said dryly. With a loud snap, the rope broke and Big Mac continued hopping away with the fillies now trying to dog-pile him. "Do I even want to know how and why my house and business is now off its foundation and down the street?"
"When this is over," Midnight said as she pulled herself out of the wall, "we're either going to have filly-kebobs or bookworm flank steak."
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"Come on," Sapphire said, nudging the tea cup in front of Midnight with a wing. "Aloe tea will help you feel better."
"It doesn't taste right," Midnight grumbled down at the cup.
"Well, we can always spend another couple of hours seeing nurse Red Heart..." Sapphire said.
Midnight immediately drained the cup, grimacing when she was done. "I am not wasting another two hours of our first Hearts and Hooves Day together just for her to tell me nothing's broken and to take it easy." She looked up at the sky. "Especially not now."
That trip to the doctor's was preceded by a decidedly heated talk with the girls. To sum it up, all of them were grounded. Squeaks was grounded for a week for not telling Midnight or Sapphire what was going on sooner and for not trying more to stop her friends. Dinky and Twist had been escorted back to their parents by Sapphire and had received similar punishments, although, according to Sapphire, she'd had to calm Twist's mom down enough so that was all the filly was given. Apparently she wasn't a big fan of love potions. From the sound of it, Sweetie and Scoots were going to get off the lightest; Sweetie's parents assuring Sapphire she'd be punished but sounding more as an afterthought and Scoots, who was an orphan, would only not be allowed to hang out with her friends for a while.
On the opposite end of the scale, Pinchy was going to have it the worst. Two weeks grounding at the very least, along with limited time with her friends after that and her allowance completely cut for the foreseeable future. Midnight had been able to go wyvern and place the house back on its foundation, but it still needed to be reattached, pipes reconnected, and inventory restocked. The only reason it wasn't worse was because Midnight had convinced Berry to take some money to help get started and reminding her that Pinchy hadn't been the one to come up with the plan, nor had been the one to pick out the house they used. "Can't even remember what your own home looks like!" she could be heard saying as she marched Pinchy inside.
Big Mac had also grounded Apple Bloom on the spot and both he and Cheerilee had agreed that the fillies should be to do some of Big Mac's chores on the farm and a five hundred word essay from each of them explaining why what they did was such a bad idea.
Arina hadn't been spared either. All Midnight had said about it was that she'd think of an appropriate punishment for her when she got back later. The spider had huddled on Sapphire's head as she'd escorted everypony home while Midnight went to see Red Heart. Nothing was broken and only some bruising, thankfully, but she was still sore a few hours later.
Finally, Midnight had reamed Twilight out about how not all knowledge should be just hoofed out willy nilly. Sapphire had kept her from charging into Golden Oaks, only for the unicorn to walk into them looking for the girls to get her book back. Midnight hoped the literal fire she was breathing near the end of her rant had helped get the message across. How in the holy saddle bag had Celestia not taught her to be more careful about such things!?
Sapphire raised an eyebrow as she also looked up. "What's special about now?"
"Well, I hear that the sunset is the most romantic time of day, for one," Midnight said with a smile. Despite her anger at the girls, she wasn't going to let it ruin the rest of her time with Sapphire. "And two, well, I remembered something while Red Heart was examining me and I want to share it with you."
"Which is?" Sapphire asked playfully, her mischievous smile and batted eyelashes giving Midnight butterflies.
"Let's find a park and I'll show you," Midnight said, getting up, laying some bits on the table, and walking away.
Sapphire caught up with her and gently pressed into her side. She felt Midnight tense as she brushed a bruise and she jumped back. "Sorry!"
"Don't be," Midnight grunted, pulling her back in with a wing. "It feels better already."
They walked for a while, watching other couples and enjoying the feel of each other, until they made it to a park with an unoccupied hilltop. "This is beautiful," Sapphire said, sitting down.
"This is nothing," Midnight, who hadn't sat down, said, stretching her wings and flapping a few times. Before Sapphire could ask anything, the kirin had jumped up into the air, beating hard for a set of clouds right above them.
Sapphire shot up after her, wondering what the kirin was up to. When she caught up to Midnight, the two landed on a large, fluffy cloud, and laid down. It was far more comfy than the grass on the hilltop, and the view of the sunset was even more stunning. "You're right; this is better," she said, leaning into Midnight.
"Yeah," Midnight agreed, draping a wing over her and letting out that growl-purr as she nuzzled her mare friend.
They stayed like that, bathed in the last rays of the setting sun and each other's warmth, until the sun was almost below the horizon. From her time working under Celestia, Sapphire knew the alicorn liked to drop the sun a lot slower on this day to give couples more of this magical time.
Without warning, Midnight got up and stretched, flapping her wings and stirring the cloud around them. "Midnight?" Sapphire asked.
"That was the sunset," Midnight said. "Now for what I wanted to share with you." Once Sapphire was up, Midnight nodded towards the open sky. "Just follow me," she said, hopping off the cloud, her wings stretched open to catch the thermals. Sapphire flew off after her, unable to glide like her but still able to keep up.
Midnight led her in a gentle corkscrew around several clouds, her wing tips stirring the water vapor on their edges and refracting the light around them so that the line she traced was a rainbow that followed her and seemed to wrap the clouds in multicolored bows.
When she was done with the fifth cloud she abruptly turned and ducked into one of the larger clouds. Sapphire hesitated for a second, then followed her in. "Midnight?" she called out, unable to see.
"Just keep flying another few seconds," Midnight called back through the fog, her voice trailing as if waiting to say something. "Okay," she finally said. "Up, now!"
Sapphire shot up and out of the cloud and was greeted by the night sky, exploded with stars and the rising moon, full and bright. She hovered there, amazed by the whole thing. She and Midnight had flown together in the evening, sure, but never once the sun was fully gone. Part of that was she couldn't see in the dark but now the moon light reflected off the clouds and she could see. It was almost as bright as day up here, only with a nighttime atmosphere that left her feeling like she was in another world.
Something shot across the surface of the moon and Midnight popped up in front of her, only half of her face obscuring the moon really visible. "Like it?" she asked, a genuine, full toothed smile on her face.
"This... is amazing," Sapphire whispered. "How did you...?"
"Know about this?" Midnight dropped and began flying lazy circles around her. "How did you think I learned to fly if I couldn't go out during the day?"
"You flew at night!"
Midnight nodded. "Yep. Draconic eyes helped me see and when I got better I flew higher and found out about what it's like up here on cloudy nights." She did a loop and flew on her back for a few seconds. "Sort of made a friend of the Mare in the Moon, too. Good listener." She frowned. "Kinda miss her up there," referring to the now missing mark. "Oh well." She dived back down and flew up to Sapphire again. "I always loved coming up here when I could. I almost wish there was a thunderstorm coming through; really amazing light show."
"So, what do we do now?" Sapphire asked. She really loved this view Midnight was showing her but the kirin never seemed that keen on just enjoying the view.
The kirin's grin grew playful and she flitted over and gave her a kiss. "You're it." With that she dove down towards the clouds, ducking into a break in them and disappearing into the darkness.
"H-Hey!" Sapphire shouted, then laughed and dived after her.
They spent nearly an hour that way, chasing after each other and tagging one another with a kiss. More often than not it was Sapphire who was chasing after Midnight, then latter using the darkness of the starry sky and breaks in the clouds to disappear and leave Sapphire flitting around the lit clouds as if the reflected light would protect her. At some points they would just end up cruising around a cloud that spiraled into the sky, enjoying the cool air and the patterns of the stars above.
Finally, after her sixth or seventh time getting tagged, Sapphire flopped onto a cloud, tuckered out and ready to rest. Midnight landed next to her a few seconds later, wrapping her in her wing and nuzzling her.
"You're certainly energetic tonight," Sapphire chuckled as she returned the nuzzle.
"This just feels so good, sharing this with you. When I got to fly like this back over Manehattan, they were the only times I really felt free and happy, like nothing could stop me." She sighed happily as she rested her head on the cloud. "Sometimes I wonder if my mom was a pegasus, maybe we'd have gotten along better."
The mention of Summer reminded Sapphire of the question she wanted to ask Midnight earlier. Now seemed like both the perfect and worst time to ask. No pony was around to interrupt or overhear but she didn't want to ruin the moment either.
Sensing the pegasus fidgeting, Midnight looked up at her. "What's wrong?"
Sapphire bit her lip. "I... I want to ask you something but it's very personal; I don't want to get you upset for a second time today; not now especially."
Midnight lifted her head and nuzzled her again. "Unless it's something we wouldn't want Squeaks to overhear, I doubt it'll bother me much."
Sapphire's sudden, deep blush made Midnight laugh, but the pegasus pushed on. "Why is your mom so afraid of seeing you with a knife?"
Midnight stopped laughing but it wasn't replaced by anger or unhappiness like Sapphire had feared. In its place was a frown of defeat. "Thought that was going to come up sooner or later."
"If you don't want to talk about it-!" Sapphire began.
"No, it's fine," Midnight interrupted, waving a dismissive wing. "I haven't been helping things either. I keep deliberately waving around a knife to try and show her it's no big deal. She still thinks it is but..." she shrugged, "hasn't helped any." She sighed, took a deep breath, then sighed again. "Before I tell you, you have to promise, promise, you won't make a big deal out if this. I get why she's paranoid now but it happened long ago and while it sounds bad I'm telling you it's not, okay?"
Sapphire nodded. "I promise."
Midnight narrowed her eyes. "Do you Pinkie promise?"
Sapphire nodded and said the words and did the motions. Midnight had to be very serious about this to evoke such a thing from her.
When she was done, Midnight sighed again. "Alright; you know about my cutie mark story? What I told you when I was in the hospital after the hydra attack?" Sapphire nodded; she'd never forget it. "Well, a few days later I got the idea to get rid of it. You know how foals are; they don't understand how hot a stove can be until they get burned. Well, I got it into my head that I could just, well, cut it off." Sapphire gasped but Midnight continued, determined to finish before she could ask any questions. "When mom went out I got a knife and headed up to the roof. I saw her cut up fruit and veggies all the time. I figured a quick slice on each side and it would be done. At first I just shaved off the fur over the mark, so I got frustrated and more or less ended up stabbing myself." She flinched at the memory. "Not my brightest moment. I kept trying other ways because I thought there had to be a way to get rid of them that didn't hurt. Eventually, mom found me on the roof and freaked out. Like I said, I can imagine why now, her seeing me covered in blood with a knife in my hoof; I'd freak out too if I saw Squeaks like that." She fell silent for a second, the moonlight reflecting off the wetness in her eyes. Sapphire nuzzled her neck and wrapped a fore hoof around Midnight's. "That's how we learned I'm such a fast healer," Midnight continued, "and why mom freaks when she sees me with a knife. I've tried to tell her I never wanted to do it again after that and now I have other ways to hurt myself it I really wanted to, which I don't, but she won't listen. After today, I think I'm going to give up trying." Her story over, she sighed again and hugged Sapphire. "That answer your question?"
"Yes..." she said, sounding like she was lost in thought.
"Bit for your thoughts?" Midnight asked.
"No, I'm just... I'm glad you told me," she said, reaching up and kissing her cheek.
"Now, I told you it's behind me," Midnight said. "I never wanted to hurt myself and I still don't."
"I know," Sapphire said, kissing her again. "And I'm glad; I'm just thinking of a way I can make it up to you for dredging it up."
"And what exactly have you come up with?" Midnight asked, her voice soft. The blush was back on Sapphire's cheeks but her eyes were determined.
Sapphire kissed her again. "I'll show you," she whispered.
-----------------------------
Windrunner left the bathroom, heading for bed. She sighed unhappily as she remembered how Squeaky's and Arina had come home. Yes, they were wrong for letting their friends make a love potion but the way they had looked as they slowly made their way up to Squeaky's room was the same as a buffalo being ejected from the herd. It wasn't as bad as all that, according to Sapphire, but the filly was still in a lot of trouble and probably wasn't looking forward to when Midnight got home.
If they got home, that was. She'd been waiting up for them to return and tell her what happened but she'd grown tired and decided she could wait to hear it tomorrow. Who knew; things could have settled down by then. A good night's sleep often did wonders.
As she was just passing the end of the staircase she heard the side door quietly open. When she heard Midnight's and Sapphire's voices, she relaxed and was wondering if she should go down and see them when she heard both voices fade off, as if they were heading into the living room, then the sound of Midnight's bedroom door opening, closing, and then silence.
Windrunner waited there for a another minute, wondering what they were doing. Then her mind clicked back to a memory of a male buffalo and a female buffalo slipping into a new teepee together. Her face blushed and she made a beeline for her bed room. She could ask them in the morning. Late morning.
Yeah, yeah, get it out of your systems. Let's see how dark Middy's face gets after reading your comments.
Pigs!
Hey, this is FiMFiction; you know what at least half the top ten are.
Anyway, what held me up in terms of actually writing was the part with the CMC because I really wanted to get to that part inspired by HTTYD
and I didn't want to have the bit with the CMC hijack the story and make it longer than it needed to be. I think I came to a good compromise. Also, Midnight, I'm sorry but all comedy comes from pain, and I tailor made you to take a lot of it.
Ass
Actually I'm a draconequus, and that's specieist.
Anyway, again, The next chapter is already 33% done as of this posting, maybe even a bit more while in editing, so the next chapter should be up much sooner then the span between this chapter and the last one.
I believe my muse has returned, and she's a little red, black, and green butter ball. Onward!
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Yay! A update!
Oh, you're back!
Gotta say I love when you update The Witching Hour, but damn it takes a while
Have you considered skipping some episodes? I love the story and all, but you're some five seasons behind now. And I'm curious about how will Midnight react to the big villains and happenings. Also Twilycorn and giant eyesore yummy (she's part dragon, that thing is the biggest buffet ever to her)
I need help! My phone can't do YouTube! I need someone to post "it's alive!" clip from young frankenstein!
Awesome job!
Hot!
Heh, nice to see Midnight and Saphire's relationship deepening, the date they had here was just adorable. 
8324667
I DO skip episodes (check out my story 2 Bits?), it's life and ADD that are slowing this thing to 5 mph. Also, the story proper won't go past season 4, so season 5 and beyond aren't really on the radar except for inspiration.
8324993
Not beyond season 4? But whyyyyy?
(Most likely because when you planned it we were at season 4, I can imagine, but reason gives no space for excessive drama)
I did read the latest chapter of 2 Bits after posting that comment. That was a BIG lampshade
I'd really like to see a couple of shorts on Midnight's reactions to the weird stuff that happens after S4's ending. Like the big'mc'huge crystal castle, no more elements and alicorn newborns. Those are bound to be absolutely hilarious
Hmm... I think this needs a semicolon to divide the clear implied break in subject: ."Well, maybe not the fanciest restaurant; and a hotel in the capital would be a bit much..."
Like that.
Just a little something I noticed about how the sentence read awkwardly without that pause.
Mango juice... every single time someone uses those words... THIS pops into my brain.
My brother and I thought this scene was hilarious for some reason. And it still is today. Maybe we just like watching small animals being smashed repeatedly.
"No, that would have been HOT! Vore is awesome!" shouted a grey pony with a wild white mane as his eyes twirled madly beneath his massive pair of green goggles.
"DANG IT!! NOT YOU AGAIN!!" she hollered, chasing after the creepazoid. "Get out of here, you weirdo!"
One would think that would be the case... and one would be very mistaken. The security for Pony Hell is about on par with security in Canterlot Castle.
8325009
I'm thinking about it. The big catalyst for doing that is just how quickly Midnight and the Bearer Guard would shut down Starlight's operation at the beginning of season 5
Starlight: I will now steal your cutie mark!
Midnight: I'm immune to unicorn magic.
Starlight: ...horseapples *gets the snot beaten out of her*
8325019
got it
8325047
Actually...
Ink, I swear, I will beat the ever-loving Tartarus out of you if you finish that thought
So... no lamia Midnight?
*groans*
Did someone let a vampire in here? I understand some of them like shouting "PIGS!" at things...
8325054
Wait, season 5 is Starlight? So Tirek is 4. Huh, we will see the big yummy, after all.
Sorry, I only saw two episodes of the series, so when things happen is somewhat vague to me.
Doctor! Doctor! It's still alive!
Wonderful news! It was touch and go for a bit, but I'm happy to see it it pulled through.
8325059 I also just realized that my manic mad scientist pony could be the Pony version of Rick from "Rick and Morty"... I even had always envisioned him with a gravely voice.
And yet... he came into being 2 years before the first "R&M" episode!
This can mean only one thing!
I actually had to double check the rating of this story
Well that was a fun ride with a super sweet ending. Also I love the CMC as we all do, but Luna's starry mane and tail do those fillies have a collective muzzle for trouble.
8325663
That's what Sapphire said
Wait what?
Stupid, perverted brain.
Dragon pone, dragon pone, does whatev-Oh.....
.
.
.
She's not a dragon pone anymore, she's a wyvern.
8325807
You just had go there didn't you Shiro? Honestly I think Sapphire would probably be more classy about it.
8326127
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/496/277/d7f.jpg
8326176
Well I have made worse jokes, so yeah you needn't regret it. Regrets are a waste anyway Shiro.
8325054
I can see that happening too, except that she's even stronger than Twilicorn magically and that's not even what makes her scary as an opponent. She needn't cast on MIdnight, thinks fast on her feet (hooves?) and Batman-plans things. I kinda want to see how Midnight does against something her normal methods won't work against.
Obligatory "And then sex happened"
8326111 I think you mean 'whoever'.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
8326400
The way magic works in this AU is akin to wave lengths, like radio waves or the color spectrum. Unicorn magic, no matter how powerful, can't affect kirins; only alicorn and changeling magic can.
Also, my ass she's stronger than Twilight; Twi's just to much of a goody-goody to go all out in her, probably because she's another pony. Getting bad comic vibes over here.
Poor Midnight, she hardly catch a break.
8326727
I don't know; I think she caught one hell of a break at the end there
I can think of a few things that Squeaks shouldn't overhear that wouldn't bother Midnight.
a lovely harts and hove's day chapter just super amazing.
*Snips a pair of scissors rapidly while waggling his eyebrows.*
I wonder if there's going to be some over arching plot about some villain and the kirins. I mean, there's a bit of one about the kirins already, but there's no BBEG as far as I can tell.
Ha I just have to ask what was windrunner up to all day during this chapter. I mean it is not like she had a secret meetup with a prismatic Pegasus right...😜
That kinda of sounds like a dental hazard to me. I can just see Rainbow for instance seeing the chocolate taking a bite and finding out the rock underneath.
Very nice chapter, keep up the good work.
I think that Midnight is being too hard on Twilight about the book with the recipe for the love potion since that book was in the library before Twilight came to Ponyville and thus publicly available. In a different story Twilight states that only a pony with a skill in alchemy would be able to make the potion. Midnight is terribly wrong about the dangers guarded by Cerberus since Tartarus is reserved for the monsters that are worse than Discord and Tirek is certainly more dangerous than Discord ever was.
8548536
>Be Discord
>Be god-tier reality warper
>Be less dangerous than some guy who isn't a god-tier reality warper
>Excuse me what the fuck
8330341
Da fuq??
(5 seconds later) Sudden realization
I'm not sure if she means food or something sexual with that last part but either way I'm laughing just as hard
V
9637588
U
And it was glorious
*flashbacks to all the terrible things done in the name of love*....... no not at all