~~~Saturday~~~
~~~1:23 PM~~~
“Look, Trixie…” Midnight shoveled another spoonful of cereal into her mouth. “… I already said I was sorry for leaving you behind. What more can I say?”
“Trixie thought that you and she were the bestest of best friends, but clearly she was mistaken, if you couldn’t have bothered to send Trixie a text before you risked your life without her!”
Trixie’s voice came out of Midnight’s new phone’s speakers with a tinny, scratchy sound, but considering the fact that Midnight had whipped it together just a few minutes before out of spare parts from Spike’s old “dogfriend” bot, that it could receive and make calls, and that it could project a tiny hologram of the person on the other end of the line, Midnight was feeling pretty good about her latest creation.
“It was spur of the moment, Trix,” she said, taking a moment out of her early afternoon cereal breakfast to pinch the head of the tiny still-image of her friend. Sure, the image was a composite taken from a couple of internet sources – yeah, the M-Phone could hack websites too, how about that? – but it really did look like Trixie.
“Besides, would you actually want to have fought a thirty-foot-tall demon version of me?”
There was silence on the other end of the line.
“Trixie?”
“No, you’re right. I guess…” Trixie sighed. The phone replaced her smiling 3D portrait with something far less flattering, simultaneously making Midnight wonder if one of those Anon-a-Miss gossip backup sites were still up, and if she’d accidentally created another sapient AI she’d have to destroy.
Midnight realized, suddenly, that she had missed what Trixie said.
“Uh, say that again? Bad signal…”
Trixie huffed. “I asked you if you were at least sleeping better.”
“Oh, much!” Midnight crowed. “I only woke up like, twenty minutes ago and made breakfast. Afternoon breakfast, in my PJ’s!”
She gave a slightly mad cackle, and took another big bite of cereal.
“It’s like I’m an art major!”
“Yeah, that’s… great. Just great. Look... not that Trixie's worried, or anything, but... you're okay now, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” Midnight said with a nod she knew Trixie couldn’t see. “I mean, I gotta see a psychiatrist after this, but that’s not for a while. I got my date tonight, and I was thinking we should do something on Monday, like…”
“A psychiatrist!?” Trixie cried.
Well. Midnight thought she said ‘psychiatrist’. Trixie’s voice had turned into a muffled explosion as she strained the speakers beyond their limits. The sound was so loud and blaring that Midnight was thrown completely from her chair. She swore she could hear Spike, off in the lab with Twilight even now, howling in puppy pain as the speakers blew themselves out.
Regaining her footing, Midnight slapped at the device, eventually cracking open its casing.
Stop screaming at me, I know you’re malfunctioning!
It wasn’t like she deliberately designed her phone to feel pain.
This time, anyway…
Finally getting at the guts of the device, Midnight made a quick recalibration, and caught Trixie’s rant, already in progress. Her 3D portrait, by this point, had been replaced, rather rudely, by a holographic gif of a coo-coo clock bird.
“—ay one little thing, and suddenly they want to write a book about you! No, Midnight! DO NOT LET THAT SHRINK NEAR YOUR BEAUTIFUL BRAIN!!!”
Midnight stared at the phone for several long seconds. All she could hear was some haggard breathing on the other end. Even the holoprojector was just a big floating question mark.
“Um…” Midnight scratched the back of her neck. “Sure?”
“Good!” Trixie chirruped back. “Glad we settled that! You good for a show Monday after school?”
Midnight shook off her confusion, and decided to roll with the insanity. With Trixie, there was rarely another option.
“Sure. We’re ahead of schedule for the E2E, anyway…”
“The what in the what?”
“Earth-to-Equestria Holographic Communications Network,” Midnight explained.
Trixie said nothing.
The hologram tried to animate another Trixie photo by having her shrug helplessly. It was quite disturbing.
Right, definitely sentient. Should destroy later.
Midnight sighed. “The thing with the black hole battery.”
“… oh.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Midnight said in an appeasing tone. “Princess Twilight already nixed the idea. Woke up to a magical-journal-text about Mana Coils, which sound like they draw ambient magic out of the air, or something. Tell the truth, I’m basically just awake for my date tonight and it’s back to dreamland for a week. I need to make up for the last one.”
“Okay… so you’re not gonna blow up the planet?”
Midnight smirked.
“Not as long as the date goes well tonight…”
This time, Midnight was prepared to hit the mute key before Trixie’s outburst destroyed her speakers.
~~~Saturday~~~
~~~6:45 PM~~~
“So… what’d you do to get in?”
Juniper Montage blinked a few times, and looked about to make sure she was the one being spoken to. Best not to make that mistake for the fourteenth time. This month.
“Uh, get in to what?” she asked the vaguely familiar punk-looking girl standing across from her register at the Canterlot Mall Movie Theater.
Aria Blaze pointed at Juniper’s nametag, and asked, “You’re Juniper Montage, right?”
Juniper shrank a little. Looking over the rim of her glasses, she nodded slowly and said, “Y-yes, that’s me. Why? What have you heard…?”
“Not a lot. That’s why I asked,” Aria said with a roll of her eyes. “But my sister said your name came up with this stupid support group club thing we’re all in, and…”
“Oh!” Juniper’s eyes lit up. “You’re talking about the… um, the Reformed Antagonist thing?”
“Yeah, Disqord’s stupid club.”
Juniper shrugged her shoulders, and quickly scanned the front of the theater to see if there was anyone else looking to buy a ticket or some popcorn. Despite the mall being The hangout spot of choice on a Saturday evening, the movie theater was noticeably low on attendees, probably due to the big summer rush of action flicks not coming out for another few weeks. All they had running were older flicks and some kiddie junk meant to sell toys.
“I got an invite,” Juniper sighed… though more about having to keep talking to this strange girl than anything else. “I don’t think I need to go, really. I already made up with Sunset and the girls.”
“Yeah, same,” Aria said with a nod. “But… I’m kinda dating someone else in the group, so I guess I have to go now.
“But seriously, what’d you do?” she asked again. “You some sort of… horse-monster under there? Or did you find an Equestrian artifact?”
Juniper sighed, again. “The latter.”
Aria smiled – sort of – and said, “Cool. Former, for me.”
“Wha… really?” Juniper narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “You pulling my leg?”
“Totally!” Aria laughed. “I used mind control to almost cause a high school to tear each other’s throats out. Good times.”
“If… you say so?”
“Hey! Aria!” a distant voice carried over the general hubbub of the mall’s echoing ambience.
Glad to have the conversation cut short, Juniper looked around the bizarre and possibly evil girl to see her old friend Twilight Sparkle running up.
“Hey Twilight!” she called out to the approaching girl. “You know… this…?”
Her voice trailed off as she took in Twilight’s appearance. If she didn’t recognize the voice, she might have sworn it was a different person entirely. No bowties, no glasses… and her hair and skin were even slightly different colors.
Could that really be Twilight?
‘Twilight’ slowed down as she approached, and made eye contact with Juniper.
“Oh? Uh…” she blushed, and glanced around nervously. Then, she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Standing more firmly, this ‘Twilight’ looked back to Juniper, and asked, “I suppose you’re a friend of Twilight’s?”
Juniper frowned at the question.
Number fifteen...
Then, it became clearer as a second Twilight approached from the same direction, while dragging a green-haired boy behind her.
“Wait up, Midnight!” she cried out, panting slightly. “You don’t have to ru— oh!”
Twilight noticed Juniper, standing there with a baffled look on her face, and smiled brightly.
“Juniper Montage!” she said. “Nice to see you! Got stuck with the Saturday shift?”
Okay… more familiar footing here, Juniper thought.
“Uh, asked for it, actually,” she replied, glancing curiously towards the other Twilight. “Need to save up for a car. So, this is…?”
“My sister, Midnight.”
“I didn’t know you had a sister.”
Timber Spruce idly rubbed the side of his jaw, and said, “Yeah, me neither…”
Aria snickered, but said nothing.
Juniper frowned more deeply, and silently wondered if there was an elaborate prank going on at her expense. Seeing this, Twilight sighed, and said, “Lemme explain…”
While Twilight took a moment to try and untangle the last week or so of her life for Juniper’s enlightenment, Midnight finally faced her date for the evening.
“So, Aria?” she asked with a grin. “What movie did you get tickets for?”
Aria smiled, slightly, and hooked a thumb up at the sign above their heads.
“They’re actually playing The Sorcerer of Floz!” she said with something Midnight could almost count as genuine enthusiasm. “You know? I actually knew the director.”
Midnight scoffed. “You knew Vicolt Filming?”
“Yeah, he was a huuuge jerk, too,” Aria chuckled. “Our break-up was so bad, he based the Wicked Warlock of the East on me. Probably the nicest thing the bum ever did for me.”
Midnight opened her mouth to say something… and then thought better of it. Instead, she took in the sight of Aria, who’d chosen to wear black slacks and a dark blue blouse for the evening. Different from her usual attire, especially the lack of spikes or other sharp edges. Midnight wasn’t sure if that disappointed her or not.
“You look good,” she commented with a smile.
Aria froze, for an instant, and a pale rosy blush broke out on her face.
“Uh, yeah?” she asked, somewhat unsure, and glanced down at herself. “I mean, I just threw this on, you know?”
“Yeah?” Midnight smirked, and planted her hands on her hips. “Well, you wear it well!”
“Thanks, I guess. You…” Aria seemed to take in Midnight with a sweep of her eyes, but after a few seconds of resulting silence, and a few more of an even deeper blush, it seemed likely that the former Siren didn’t quite know what to say.
Midnight was wearing a Rarity Original, a dark-purple cropped jacket over a knee-length blue dress.
Just knee-length, as it happened.
“You like?” she giggled and gave her date a good view of the dress with a spin.
“… Dress,” Aria mumbled, unable to tear her eyes away or cover her reddening face.
Midnight smiled, and said, “Yes, I know! But skirts are alright every once in a while. For special occasions…”
Aria finally shook herself free of Midnight’s vile mind control, and cleared her throat with a cough. Then, glancing away and innocently scratching the side of her nose, she muttered something vaguely complimentary.
“What was that?” Midnight teased, leaning in to hear her better.
Aria groaned, and said, “It’s… okay. You look… okay…”
“Aw!” Midnight mockingly cooed. She reached out, and pinched Aria’s still-blushing cheek. “Isn’t that adorable! You’re acting like a person!”
“Bite me,” Aria growled, and half-heartedly slapped Midnight’s hand aside.
“Later, if you’re good,” Midnight replied with a wicked grin.
“A-hem!”
Midnight frowned, and turned back towards her sister. “Yes?” she asked, pouting slightly.
Twilight slowly shook her head and tsk-tsk’d her brazen sibling, though she couldn’t completely hide her own smile as she turned back to Juniper.
“I guess that’s four tickets to The Sorcerer of Floz, please!”
“Wait, they’re coming too?” Aria scoffed, and shot her date a look.
“You… have a problem with my sister?” Midnight asked, eyes narrowing.
Aria groaned, and crossed her arms.
“They’re both just… nerds, ya know?”
“Yeah, well,” Midnight hummed, “I kinda like that about them…”
As Twilight reached for her wallet, Timber stepped in with a wink and a pearly smile.
“Hang on there,” he said in that cool, faux-hunky way of his, “I can get this…”
Twilight smiled, and blushed – and Midnight did not care for the little hearts flashing in her sister’s eyes – but then shook her head and patted him on his surprisingly well-defined arm.
“No need, Timber. Someone…” She shot Midnight a glare. “… guilted our older brother into giving us some cash for the movie and popcorn.”
Midnight smiled, innocently, and placed her arms behind her back.
“Hey, if he was feeling guilty about abandoning us to Cinch’s crap,” she sang in a sing-song-like manner, “then we’re both entitled to some compensation, right? Emotional damages!”
Twilight pinched her nose, and suppressed an annoyed groan as she paid for the tickets and snacks.
“Emotional blackmail?” Aria asked, a smirk sliding easily onto her face. “I knew I liked you…”
The four teenagers took their tickets in hand, as well as their sodas and unhealthy snacks – except for Aria, who declared that since she was mortal these days, her body was a temple – and headed into the cinema interior. But just as they were readying to take their seats, Twilight suddenly checked her phone, having felt it ring in her skirt pocket.
Seeing the message displayed, she grinned from ear-to-ear, and quickly beckoned Midnight over.
And seeing it herself, Midnight couldn’t help but grin in an identical fashion.
MSSG from Shining (BBBFF) @6:59:23PM:
She said yes!
“Seems Shining’s date went pretty well so far,” Midnight laughed, unable to stop grinning like a lunatic.
“OOOH!” Twilight squee’d and hooked one arm around Timber’s own, “I can’t wait to see our niece!!!”
Timber furrowed his brow, and shot his date a goofy, crooked smile.
“Aren’t you jumping a little ahead of things?” he said. Then, giving a little shrug, he added, “They’ll probably wait a while before doing something like that…”
“Oh, no,” Midnight said while half-leaning over her sister to confront the naysayer, “We’ve already met our niece.”
Timber and Aria, despite sitting on complete opposite ends of their chosen dates, displayed a very similar worried and confused expression.
“It involved the Mirror Portal and time travel. Oh, and you kidnapped her,” Twilight muttered. Then, grimacing to herself, she patted Timber’s arm again, and said, “Ah, but… she’s sorry about all that, so it’s fine!”
“Meeting, kidnapping…” Midnight rolled her eyes and took a long sip of her soda. “… It’s all the same thing, really…”
The lights dimmed, and the twenty minutes of ads and trailers began to play upon the screen of the half-full theater. Midnight leaned back in her seat, and smiled softly to herself.
It’s so… nice in here, she thought. A good movie, some good company… yeah. This date probably couldn’t go any…
A thought suddenly occurred.
“Hey, Aria?” she whispered. “What do you think about matching tattoos…?”
Luckily, while there was indeed a special place in Tartarus for anyone who spoke during a movie, it wasn’t necessarily the cinema’s policy to ban patrons from talking or making noise during the trailers.
Otherwise, the scream Twilight let out just then might have gotten them all kicked out.
~~~Saturday~~~
~~~9:15 PM~~~
“I kid you not!” Aria snorted with laughter in the backseat of Timber’s little eco-car. “She ate the wheel! The whole wheel!!!”
Laughter filled the car again, with Midnight and Twilight howling right alongside the former Siren as she finished another story about her sisters. Timber laughed too, of course, but he was also trying to be a safe driver, and managed to restrain himself.
Sure, the distance between the mall and Twilight and Midnight’s house was at best five minutes away, but one could never be too careful.
Especially when dating a police officer’s sister.
However, there did not appear to be any ‘surprise stops’ on the road to the Sparkles’ that night, and as the laughter subsided in the backseat, Midnight took a moment to speak with her girlfriend.
“So, you’re cool with us dropping off first?” she asked.
Aria nodded. “Dude, it sounds like you and Twilight need to knock off for like, a week. Go home and sleep. I’ll be fine with a little longer drive.”
“You don’t mind being stuck with Timber Spruce for a bit then?” Midnight smirked. “Should I be worried?”
“Heh, as if!” Aria chuckled. “He’s not my type… huh.”
Her eyes twinkled, and a cruel smile split her face.
Aria leaned forward, ignoring Midnight’s rolling eyes, and gripped the back of Timber’s seat. “Yo! Muscles!” she said, “How much you lift again?”
Timber, ever proud of the work he put into looking the way he did, smiled and…
… and kept his eyes right on the road. Yup. Bolted to it, in fact, once he’d caught a glimpse of Twilight’s face and realized how very, very, very stupid he was.
Aria, who’d caught a glance of that look as well, crawled back into her seat and tucked her knees up under her chin.
Midnight just chuckled some more, and wondered if she could make a face half as terrifying.
A moment later, they turned down the final street, and Midnight and Twilight’s home came into view. A grand, purple-colored last-century house that had been in their family for generations. A house that, curiously for this time of night, seemed to have a pair of visitors standing out on the lawn.
A pair of women, to be more accurate.
“Well, here’s our first stop!” Timber announced. He leaned closer to his date, and said in a low tone, “I hope everything was… good?”
The seat next to him was empty. So was the seat behind him. The only one still in their seat, besides him, was Aria Blaze, and she was currently staring at their dates’ front lawn, where Twilight and Midnight Sparkle were racing to meet their late-night visitors.
“Right… cool,” he sighed. “See you later then…”
“Dude,” Aria said in a hushed, expectant tone, “I think there’s gonna be a fight…”
They rushed from the car without waiting for ‘good-byes’ or any other post-date pleasantries. Their seatbelts were off before the car had fully stopped, and the doors were already opened. In their haste, neither Twilight nor Midnight noticed that they ran with identical pace, an identical stride, and an identical look of panic and fury creasing their brows.
They recognized at least one of the women standing on their lawn that evening.
Former Principal Abacus Cinch turned at the sound of two people rapidly racing through the damp grass. She was dressed rather plainly in dark sweater and slacks, a sharp contrast with her sister Chrysalis, who even at this late hour wouldn’t be caught dead outside of a business suit that cost as much as Timber's car.
Her eyes widened noticeably as she laid them upon not one, but two Twilight Sparkles.
“Okay…” Chrysalis said slowly as she switched her equally widening eyes from Midnight to Twilight and back again. “Abbey? Just how many kids did you mess with?”
Abacus took a moment to shoot her sister a venomous side-eye, but swiftly turned back to the twin girls who had come to a stop before her.
She glanced between both Sparkles, confusion and worry plain as day in her eyes.
“There’s two of us now,” Midnight said, simply. “It’s… magic. And a long story. I was the one you met yesterday, but we both remember Crystal Prep.”
Cinch nodded, not quite understanding but also not needing to understand. She took a long, slow breath in, and held it for a moment.
“Twilight Sparkle… I wish to—”
Her slow, measured speech ratcheted up instantly as a shadow passed over her, and it rapidly became apparent that the shadow was cast by Twilight Sparkle as she threw herself at her former principal with a snarling war cry.
Cinch fell back with a flinch, and covered her head against the smaller girl’s assault, gritting her teeth at the expected flash of pain.
But nothing happened. No one fell upon her with animalistic, murderous fury. Instead, she opened one eye, and beheld a very strange sight indeed; that of Twilight Sparkle clawing and biting at the air before her, yet enmeshed in a bright blue sparkling aura that held her several feet up.
Midnight smirked from where she stood, her pendant sharing that same aquamarine glow.
“Okay, so now I guess we know I didn’t get all the aggression,” she tittered, and began reeling her sister back through the air. “Down, Twi! Down!”
As Twilight’s feet hit the ground beside her sister, and the magical aura faded away, she grumbled and groused before fixing Cinch with a glare.
Cinch herself took a few steadying breaths, and shot her own sister another dark look.
“You could have done something there,” she hissed. “I was almost assaulted.”
“As your lawyer, I already told you coming here was a stupid idea,” Chrysalis said with a helpless shrug. “And frankly? I’m just here for moral support. These nails cost more than your car, and I’m not taking my chances with them in a bout of barbaric fisticuffs…”
With a roll of her eyes, Cinch turned back to the Sparkle twins. Her face immediately settled once again into a tired expression.
“Twilight and…?”
“Midnight.”
“… Midnight Sparkle,” Cinch said, clasping her hands before her, “I have come here to… apologize.”
Neither girl said anything. Twilight continued to glare at Cinch, while Midnight glanced over to Chrysalis, who simply gave another shrug and tilted her head towards her sister in a universal, “I said she was crazy to do this but no one listens to me” sort of way.
With no one interrupting her, Cinch continued.
“I know very well that I have no right to ask for your forgiveness. I have not earned that, nor do I believe I ever can,” she said. Cinch cast her eyes down at her feet, and sighed, “But I have had time to reflect on my actions. And in doing so… I realize now, far too late, that what I did to you – both of you – was unacceptable, intolerable behavior.
“I abused my position of power to mold you into my image, without regards for your wishes or your emotional wellbeing.” She said this while reaching up to grasp her arms, as if the cool summer night air had become frigid and chilling to the bone. “I used underhanded, even criminal tactics…”
“Colloquial use of the term criminal,” Chrysalis muttered with a frown. “Not applicable in a legal sense…”
“Criminal tactics,” Cinch insisted with another glare her sister’s way, “in order to… I don’t even know anymore.”
She sighed, finally looking back at Twilight and Midnight.
“It wasn’t worth it, whatever my original goals and ambitions were,” she said. Then, bowing her head slightly, she concluded, saying, “I have no right to ask for your forgiveness. I only hope that my… that my apologies are enough to let you know that I am not the woman I was. And if at all possible, I would like to find some way to make it all up to you.”
Silence fell on the four as Cinch finished. She held herself rigidly before Twilight and Midnight, clearly expecting a response, and dreading what that might be. Chrysalis, though her contempt for this event was obvious from before, did at least reach one long, slender hand out to pat her sister’s shoulder.
It wasn’t much in the way of sisterly affection, but it was something.
At least, the way Midnight saw that hand. Nothing more than a single act, a single point of contact between sisters.
“Now is as good a time as any!” Twilight Sparkle giggled, “Principal Celestia? Princess Twilight? I’d like you to meet Midnight Sparkle! My sister.”
That flash of memory played out before Midnight could even realize it had happened. It happened so fast that she hadn’t really noticed when Twilight had taken one hand in her own.
Midnight glanced down at that hand, and then up the arm which held it.
She and Twilight locked eyes, and for just a moment it was like they were back in each other’s mind.
With a heavy breath, Midnight was about to say something, when they all heard the front door open.
Cinch, hearing the sound of footsteps behind her, turned around and saw someone she always knew she would also have to apologize to, at some point.
“Ah, Mrs. Sparkle,” she said in a soft, apologetic tone, “I…”
Twilight Velvet, mother of three – possibly four – housewife, author, and former Canterlot Women’s League Featherweight Champion two years consecutive, threw what seismologists and jet-propulsion specialists call, in technical terminology, a great whopping bomb of a right hook into the dead center of Cinch’s face.
The former principal caught enough air to be counted as a low-orbit satellite. A shockwave rippled across the lawn and tossed water droplets several meters away from the force of the blow.
A few miles away, Cozy Glow’s cheek burned, and she had no idea why.
As Abacus Cinch crashed back to earth like a goliath, Midnight and Twilight were simply shocked into silence. Chrysalis half-cowered, and half-expected to see steam rising from Twilight Velvet’s fist.
And a familiar voice carried all the way from the little car parked in front of the driveway.
“KAY OH!” Aria shouted, before practically collapsing back into her seat with a cackle. Timber Spruce, still sitting at the wheel of his car, stared openly at Velvet’s display, and suddenly realized that Shining Armor was not the member of his girlfriend’s family he should be afraid of.
Twilight Velvet shook her hand out, a few audible clicks from her old bones and arthritis playing out as tiny winces around her eyes.
“Now, we’re even,” she said with a hiss.
Then, she turned a look on Chrysalis.
Chrysalis paled, and licked her lips.
“I-I must i-inform you, Ma’am,” she whispered fearfully, “that I am a v-very good lawyer and I do not wish t-to be punched…”
Twilight Velvet studied Chrysalis like a bug under glass for a few tense seconds. “Did you have anything to do with Cinch’s tenure at Crystal Prep?” she said in a deathly low growl.
Chrysalis shook her head. A lot.
And just like that, Twilight Velvet’s face brightened instantly.
“Well then!” she said, excitedly, turning back to the house, from where a somewhat nonplussed Night Light sipped at a cup of coffee. “Pick her up, and let’s head inside. I suppose there’s a lot to talk about. I’ll put out some tea… and one steak.”
Chrysalis nodded sharply and, taking her own advice to her clients, said nothing.
Cinch slowly rose from the grass and into a sitting position, moaning and wincing in pain. She gingerly placed a hand over her eye, and sincerely hoped that whatever bruising formed the next morning she could hide with a good pair of sunglasses.
She nearly fell over again as a hand entered her slightly diminished field of vision. She flinched away, only to realize the hand wasn’t in a fist.
It was an open hand, offered freely.
“Come on,” Midnight said with a half-smirk. “Looks like you’re getting your shot.”
Staring at the hand, and then at the speaker, Cinch didn’t seem to know what to do. Or to say. But, after another moment’s hesitation, she took the hand, and was quickly pulled to her feet.
Chrysalis took her sister by the arm and helped her inside, while a begrudging Twilight followed close, muttering darkly under her breath. Only Midnight remained outside, making a beeline for Timber and Aria.
“You guys should probably take off,” she said, leaning through the front passenger window. “This is gonna be all kinds of awkward and personal. You know, mushy stuff probably.”
Timber raised an eyebrow, and looked past Midnight towards the house.
“You… sure? I mean, I can stay if Twilight…”
“Dude? Take it from me,” said Aria, idly looking at her phone screen, “if the parents start punching people who messed with their little girl, the date has to get going.
“Personal experience,” she added with a toothy smirk. Then, frowning, she sighed, and said, “Also, speaking of mushy stuff, Sonata apparently found out they closed down that taco shop she liked. So, I gotta get back to help Dagi on cleanup duty…”
Aria looked back to Midnight, and her smile briefly returned.
“But, hey. Tonight was awesome. And your mom’s cool. Do yourself a favor and take after her.”
And with that, date night was officially concluded.
~~~One Week Later~~~
Monday was a typical one for CHS, even accounting for the odd magical shenanigan which tended to make the student body's day just a bit more exciting than usual.
And this Monday in particular, that shenanigan was the Vice Principal's hair, which appeared to move on its own, as though it were blowing in an invisible, ethereal wind. Luna herself seemed apprehensive about her sparkling, waving locks, but since it didn't shoot lasers at anyone, replace their memories, or turn anyone into anything else, most saw it as nothing more than a quaint, if unexplainable curiosity. Like Pinkie Pie.
In fact, the only one who paid more attention to the Vice Principal's hair may have well been Rarity, whose seething envy could not be understated. Sunset admitted to similar feelings towards Princess Celestia's own glorious mane, at least as a filly, which somehow got her roped into helping Rarity find a magical solution to 'The Hair Conundrum', as the fashionista called it.
"Game recognizes Game," was the exact turn of phrase she used, according to Rainbow Dash, who was the only one of Midnight's friends to witness the exchange itself. Regardless, Sunset and Rarity were indisposed for most of the week thereafter.
Also happening this morning, Disqord was pleasantly surprised to find Midnight arriving a few minutes early for Zero Period, and even more so when she announced that she wouldn’t mind taking some classes at Canterlot Community College. The fact that Professor Sombra wanted to meet her before the term started didn’t even seem to faze her in the slightest.
“I’ll admit, I was hoping you’d pull a Pentagram Burst and make things more interesting for me, but…”
His eyes lit up, just then. And once he’d found the switch to turn them back off, he reached into his briefcase, and withdrew a dark purple photo album. It had seen quite a bit of wear and tear, almost as if it had gone through a few warzones in its time.
Disqord passed it over to Midnight, and grinned knowingly.
“She wanted you to have this,” he said, but did not elaborate.
Midnight frowned at the album, and felt its heft in her hands before she looked back up at her professor and pointed out, “Pentagram died twenty years before I was even born. How…?”
“Let’s just say,” said Disqord as he opened the first page up, “that I haven’t always been able to avoid giving out spoilers to my students. Pentagram may not have been one of my best, but she was still interesting...”
Right there, at the top of the inside cover of the book, was a message written in flowing, fancy handwriting. Midnight focused upon this message instantly, noting that it was addressed to her, specifically.
It read:
To Midnight:
Well met, my fellow Black Sheep. Old Cordy liked to talk about you all the time. Said time travel was involved. How dandy! If you’d ever like to chat, I’m sure he’ll arrange something, the doll. I do hope you’re living your own life first, of course. Everyone needs a few good adventures under their belt.
Ta ta, Midnight! Tell your sister she sounds like an old fuddy-duddy, from your Great Auntie!
Goats,
Dr P.B. Sparkle
Midnight blinked a few times, and read the message again. Then, she flipped the page.
The first photo was one Midnight recognized instantly. The mugshot from her dream, with the curiously smiling Pentagram Burst. She must have seen it once while visiting Grammy Sparkle as a little girl, so it was quite astounding she could dream about it with such clarity.
Next to that one, however, was something very different. A photograph taken in the snowy banks of a mountain peak. There were several mountain climbers, in somewhat old-fashioned climbing gear, huddled around a newly raised flagpole.
And right under that flag stood a proud, familiar figure. A woman with long, straight hair, and a mischievous smile.
“What did happen with the goats?” Midnight idly asked as she turned the page. “Everyone gets really cagey when I ask…”
“I’d tell you, but then we’d have to change the rating,” Disqord chuckled to himself.
Not quite listening, Midnight took in the next picture, taken in some sort of forest or jungle. Pentagram stood front and center, as always, surrounded by hawkish-faced men and women in fatigues. She herself had several belts of ammunition wrapped around her neck, and a very large, vaguely familiar flag behind her.
“Doctor Pentagram Burst?” Midnight asked, smiling as she took in the images before her.
Disqord shrugged, and waved a noncommittal hand around. “Well, it was honorary. Knock over enough Central Mareican governments, and you tend to collect those along with the accolades and legally unpublishable memoirs…”
After glancing through a few more old photographs – one of Pentagram riding camelback across a sand dune, one featuring her and the Great Hoofdini performing together, and one that might have been Pentagram and a yeti in an arm-wrestling competition – Midnight breathed contentedly, and carefully packed the old album away for later.
Disqord was, once again, pleasantly surprised. This time, by the hug Midnight threw around his neck.
“Thank you, Professor,” she said. “You’re not so bad all the time.”
He laughed. “Lies! Lies and slander. I knew you were listening to my politics lectures!”
The rest of Monday rolled on with about that same level of energy. Moondancer and Wallflower waved politely at Midnight during lunch, but were otherwise quite absorbed in their own conversation, planning for a friendly rollerball game against/double-date with Lyra and Bon Bon.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie – assisted by her new party protégé, Octavio Pie – ended the school day with a smashing party.
A One-Week-a-Versary for Midnight, as it turned out.
In the middle of fifth period. Disqord didn't seem to mind, however, and even helped out by becoming an entire mariachi band for the occasion.
“Well, first I thought I could throw you a birthday party,” Pinkie helpfully explained in between discharges of the fireworks she’d prepared for the occasion, “but then I realized the Friendship Games happened in Spring, so we’re a few months behind. And Twilight was born on—”
A magical cupcake-fueled firework blew out Midnight’s hearing about then for several seconds.
“—which is way too far away! So then, I figured ‘Ooh! if I couldn’t celebrate a birthday, I’d make it an Anniversary’. But, again, none of those are close enough, so I cut it down to a Month, or a Mensuversary!"
Octavio, though hiding near the back of the room where he'd been setting the punch bowls up, spoke up, adding, “But you, uh… weren’t around a month ago…”
Pinkie cheered, “Right you are, Octavio! And then, do you know what I came up with?”
Midnight pursed her lips, and watched through the window as her sister’s selfie drone strained and groaned to lower the eight-tier purple-and-blue frosted cake down onto the school grounds. Cranky was already out there with a stick, trying to knock the little robot down... before he finally seemed to notice the cake and started pulling out a fork and knife.
Why he had a fork and knife on him, none could say.
“A… Sabbativersary?” Midnight offered with a shrug.
Pinkie’s face froze, mid-squee.
“What.”
No. It wasn't asked like a question.
“Sabbativersary,” Midnight said again, nonchalantly. “Like, Sabbatical? Seven? Closest I could figure to what a Week-a-versary would be in La—”
“WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME ABOUT THIS!?”
And so on, and so forth did the day play out. Trixie had her Monday performance staked out in front of the Ohm Depot, so Aria got a very, very good look at Midnight’s assistant uniform. Ohm Depot might have lost money that afternoon as the staff was incredibly preoccupied during the rush.
And the next day, Tuesday, was much the same. Applejack and her cousins invited the girls over to test the first batch of Summer Cider, and Midnight finally got a chance to just hang out with her friends. She chatted with AJ and Rainbow about video games, heard about Pinkie's good bill of health from the doctors', and even got to pet a capybara Fluttershy got Disqord to teleport in. Rarity was still in 'crack ethereal hair' mode, so she and Sunset were a bit preoccupied during the hangout.
And things only got a little awkward at the end, when Applejack opened up the shed looking for another barrel of cider, only to find her brother locking lips with a certain blue-haired DJ.
It was, indeed... a strange universe.
Wednesday went by in a blur, capped off by a surprisingly fun music session with the Dazzlings, and Thursday was much the same. There was talk of their upcoming graduation and party plans for the same, but the only thing anyone could agree upon was that under no circumstances was anyone to suggest another cruise ship. Although the idea of visiting Equestria again was floated around.
The days of the week flew by in a blissfully mundane haze. No demons, no adventures. And though Midnight suspected this was just the usual lull in between such crises as her friends were always getting involved in, she couldn’t help but finally feel as though it was all… normal.
She was normal. Even if that didn't last long, and even if all her projects and plans went awry... that was enough for now.
And so, it was once again Saturday. And though they'd had no more nightmares since last week, a promise had been made.
Midnight and Twilight sat side-by-side in an office lobby all the way across Canterlot City from just about everywhere else they’d ever been. It was a warm, sunny afternoon, and so it came as no surprise that their father Night Light was already snoozing in a seat across from them. The walls were fairly plain, wood-paneled ones, covered in small landscape paintings that seemed to favor a desert aesthetic.
Even the plants, situated around the room and in incredible numbers for the space the room had, were mostly desert ferns and cacti.
They’d been waiting for what felt like hours for their new Psychiatrist to be done with the patient ahead of them. Neither Midnight nor Twilight had caught the name, but she apparently came highly recommended by Principal Luna and Disqord.
Perhaps, in addition to the wait, that should have given the Sparkles more pause.
“You know,” Twilight sighed, her chin resting in her hands, “I probably could have become a psychologist in the time it’s taken for her to get to us. Still could…”
Midnight tittered into one hand, eyes on the phone in her other. When she caught the cross-way her sister looked at her then, she blushed. “S-sorry,” she said, “but Spike was texting me.”
Twilight sat up straight. “Did we get results!?”
“Oh, uh…” Midnight fidgeted. “No. He, uh… told me a joke.”
Twilight’s brows furrowed deeply. “Is he still measuring the magic crystal’s rate of decay?” she asked icily.
“He says the isotopes’ half life keeps changing,” she hummed as she consulted the message again. “Seems like magic has an unsteady rate of dispersion. Might need to compensate for that before we can use them as reliable batteries.”
Twilight glanced down at the phone screen, and scrunched her nose up as she saw the mess of symbols on display.
“How can you read that?” she asked, squinting to understand just what she was looking at. “Star, watermelon, sun, sun, apple? What does that even mean? And how does Spike know how to text like that!? How do you?”
Midnight huffed, and tried to mask her amused smirk. “Well, Spike always did like hanging around Rarity. And Cinnamon Apple taught me. She’s a wiz at tech, it turns out. We could use another lab assistant, now that I think about it…”
Twilight rolled her eyes, and sighed. “I just think it’s incredible that he can text like that despite not having thumbs!”
“Thumbs, yet,” Midnight corrected, reminding her sister of what they’d promised their LBBFF.
“Once I’ve ruled out the possibility of any transformation spell accidentally creating an evil Spike,” Twilight replied with another huff, though not a serious one, "then... yes. Yet."
Before Midnight could say anything else, the door to their Psychiatrist’s real office opened with a creak, and a tall, lean figure stepped out into the lobby. Now, Twilight and Midnight naturally would have gone silent at this moment anyway, each wanting to start this process off on the right foot and showing respect, but there was something about this figure, this gentleman in a sweater vest that caused both Midnight and Twilight to hold their breaths.
The fact was, they recognized him. Or, someone like him.
Rather, somepony like him.
“Midnight Sparkle?” asked Sunburst, peaking over his spectacles at the notes in his hand. “Twilight Sparkle?”
The thirty-something gentleman, with a mottled bright orange and white complexion and a tangle of dark orange hair and beard, smiled as his eyes landed upon the only two lobby-occupants that would match what he was told to look for.
“Are you ready? The Doctor will see you now.”
As he walked back into the office, Midnight and Twilight shared a look.
“That was…”
“… yeah…”
Not bothering to wake Night Light up from his nap, both sisters leapt to their feet and strode right for the door.
Inside was a truly inviting office space. The kind that was precisely designed to be as inoffensive and calming as possible. Soft pastel pinks and purples covered the walls, and the couches and chairs were deep and comfortable just at a glance.
Degrees and awards hung from the walls besides photographs, and sat on the high bookshelves beside encyclopedias galore, speaking to the owner’s skill and experience in the field. This, Midnight and Twilight both knew, was meant to calm potential patients, and remind them that they were in good hands.
Of course, the name on those documents, and the woman in those photographs, was also quite well known to them.
As were the kites hanging from the ceiling.
“Their paperwork,” Sunburst said as he passed a portfolio to the light pink woman sitting behind the desk on the far side of the room.
Starlight Glimmer tucked a long strand of purple and turquoise-striped hair behind her ear, and took the paperwork with a smile.
“Thanks, hon,” she whispered back. Professional decorum prevented them from sharing a kiss or a peck on the cheek… but it was obvious to Midnight that’s exactly what they would have done next without an audience.
The sap coming off of them was almost suffocatingly wholesome.
“Now, Twilight? Midnight?” Starlight asked, and pulled out a pad of paper and a pen. “What can I do to make you feel better? I’m listening.”
Midnight looked to Twilight. Twilight looked to her sister.
It is certainly looking like one of those days, Midnight’s stare seemed to say.
We’ll get through it together, Twilight’s replied silently.
They turned back to the familiar-yet-unfamiliar psychiatrist, and braced themselves for what would prove to be a most interesting session.
And then, unprompted, Midnight asked, “Hey, odd question, but did you use to run a cult?”
“MIDNIGHT!!!”