Edge of Eternity

by FrostTheWolf

03- The First Day

Author's Note:

This one took much longer than I originally thought was possible because there was a lot that I wanted to include and I wanted to cover all my bases on the most important things.

The chapter itself focuses on Naoto trying to go about his day while he tries to wrap his head around what happened the night before in the last chapter. A lot is covered here, but all of it is important to him.

Thank you very much to BP for helping with writing Pumpkin and helping with the dialogue of another character that shows up later in the chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Until next time.
-Frost

Edge of Eternity- The First Day

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After Naoto had decided to retire to his room for the night, he tried his best to get some form of rest after everything that he had gone through within the last few hours. Although, that in itself wasn’t quite easy to do with the thoughts of everything that he had seen still fresh on his mind. Most of those things he tried to set aside so he could get some sleep, though, there was still one thing that bugged him even after laying his head down and closing his eyes.

That thing was Midnight. Sure, she did save him when he needed it, but there were still a few questions that lingered in the back of his head. For one thing, he wasn’t quite exactly sure what Midnight was. Calling her a ‘ghost’ wouldn’t exactly seem right, even though she was see-through like one. All Naoto really knew was that she formed some kind of bond with him and through said bond, she gave him some of the magic that she had. Of course, outside of the fact that she could read his mind and how his injuries from being interrogated earlier healed like nothing happened, there was very little as to what exactly he could do.

Then there was the fact that after they arrived back at the party that night, he did not hear anything from Midnight at all. As if she just disappeared. She probably didn’t even know about the fact that Naoto had to lie to Sunset in order to keep her existence and the existence of their bond a secret, something that he wasn’t entirely proud of. It was clear to Naoto that in order to understand what exactly his situation was, he would need to ask Midnight some rather important questions.

When Naoto finally woke up from his slumber, it was an hour before daybreak. He tried to fall back asleep, but was unsuccessful in doing so and instead just decided to just follow through on the normal routine that he was used to. Though, it was as Naoto was getting himself washed up and changing his clothes, he noticed something that wasn’t there before.

At first, he thought that there was something wrong with the lighting in the bathroom. Though, when Naoto looked back at the mirror in the bathroom, he began to realize that wasn’t the case. His right eye looked to be shimmering for a moment and as the teen looked at his reflection, Naoto could see four symbols next to his head. Symbols that couldn’t possibly look like anything.

“What the hell?”

At first, he thought that he was hallucinating since he was not fully awake yet and decided to close his eyes. Though, after he opened them up and his vision adjusted, he began to realize that he wasn’t hallucinating and the symbols were still there. The teen then tried to close each eye individually, the left eye first before closing the right. When he closed his left eye, nothing seemed to change. Though, when he opened it back up and then closed his right eye, that was when Naoto saw the symbols disappear. Whatever was happening right now, it had something to do with his right eye. However, there did not seem to be any noticeable changes that could explain this.

Unless… this wasn’t something completely new and out of the blue. Perhaps this was one of the effects of the bond or that this was some of the magic that Midnight had bestowed to him. Though, how exactly does this work? More importantly, what were these symbols? Were they suppose to mean something?

As Naoto turned back around and walked out of the bathroom, the symbols that he saw disappeared as the teen put his dirty clothes away in the garage. The clothes basket wasn’t full yet, so there wasn’t a point in starting the laundry just yet. Not only that, but it was still early in the morning and the last thing that the teen wanted to do was wake anybody up. His brother and sister were likely still sleeping after last night’s celebration and Sunset didn’t normally wake up until after Sunrise. So Naoto had to do his best to stay quiet and not wake up anyone else.

Once he entered the kitchen, the first thing that came to mind was to make himself a quick bowl of cereal. Not only was it simple, but it didn’t cause a lot of noise. Something that was ideal since the teen did not want to disturb everybody else in the house. Though, before Naoto could sit down at the table and eat, he heard a familiar voice. “Well, aren’t you up bright and early.”

As he turned around, the teen was caught off guard at the site of his sister, Dawn, standing in the nearby hallway. She was already dressed in a set of dark jeans and a grey t-shirt as Dawn walked into the kitchen. “Please don’t tell me I woke you up,” Naoto groaned at the thought.

“No, you didn’t,” she assured him as she was beginning to start up the coffee maker, “I didn’t even know you were awake until now. Personally, I thought you would have slept in after last night.”

“I wish,” Naoto replied as he began to eat his breakfast. Dawn herself had fixed up something to eat, just as the teen finished his meal and began to clean his dishes and put them away. Though, as he sat back down, that was when he asked another question, “How are you this morning?”

“Alright, I guess,” she shrugged, before looking back at him, “Still trying to wake up this morning and thought some coffee would do the trick.”

“Can’t you just get coffee from Sugarcube Corner?” the teen asked in response.

“They don’t open up until seven,” Dawn told him, before motioning towards the clock in the room, where it was only fifteen minutes past six, “Wouldn’t make sense to be waiting outside over half an hour just for a cup of coffee… unless you were going for another reason.”

“Oh dear, here we go,” Naoto groaned, not liking the direction where this conversation was going.

“It’s Pumpkin, isn’t it?” Dawn asked, her brother’s silence being the only thing that she needed to hear before giving off a smirk, “You like going to Sugarcube Corner early because you like talking to her, don’t you?”

“So? She’s a friend of ours. What’s wrong with that?” Naoto asked.

“Seriously now?” Dawn asked as she pulled out a Canterlot High coffee mug from the cabinet and began to pour herself some coffee that had just finished brewing, “With the way that you two act around each other, including last night, I would almost assume that you two are a couple.”

That made Naoto look away from his sister, trying to hide the small blush that was on his face. “I-it’s not like that, Dawn.”

“Like I haven’t heard you say that before,” she shot back, which only seemed to frustrate Naoto even more. He was now fiddling with the fingerless gloves that were on his hands in an attempt to distract himself from the conversation. Though, Dawn’s next statement did little to help, “Besides, are you trying to tell me that you haven’t even thought of it? Just a little?”

At this point, the teen was beginning to feel like a nervous wreck. Naoto then looked away from his gloves and back towards his sister as he tried to figure out the right words to say, “I… have,” he admitted, “T-though, where would I even start? I… like her, but I d-don’t want to-.”

In response, his sister just set her mug down on the counter before looking at him, “Look… I’m not exactly a relationship counselor, but I do know that things like this take time. Sooner or later, you’ll be able to figure out what’s the right thing to do.”

Even though what Dawn was saying was helpful and supportive, Naoto still had a lot going through his head this morning. Hell, right now, he was doing his best to try and stay somewhat calm first before he could reply. There were a lot of things in his head that he needed to sort out and this conversation wasn’t exactly helping with that, “Dawn, t-thanks for the… advice, but-.”

“Look, I’m not saying you have to do it right this minute,” she countered, “I’m just saying that it's something to take into consideration. Hell, it’s probably better that you’re talking about this with me rather than someone like Rarity.”

He hated to admit it, but Dawn did make a valid point there. If Rarity even heard the slightest bit about something like this, she would immediately go into speculations about the smallest of details without even knowing the full story. Her sister, Sweetie Belle, was unfortunate enough to go through this herself when she was friends with someone named Button Mash. When Rarity found out about it, she immediately assumed the two were dating. Even though in reality, they were just classmates that were assigned a project together.

“You… m-make a valid point,” Naoto replied, before he got up and brought his dishes to the sink to be washed out and put them in the dishwasher.

“See what I mean?” Dawn chuckled as she picked her coffee cup back up, “It’s not that hard once you start thinking about it. You just gotta have some faith in yourself, alright?”

Even though the subject of the conversation was not something that the teen was really wanting to talk about, Naoto had to admit that Dawn’s advice on the subject was rather helpful. The more that he thought about it, the less nerve wracking the whole conversation was. Though, he didn’t want to be getting ahead of himself just yet. There were still a couple other things on his mind that he needed to sort out first though, before he would consider trying any of that.

Once he put his dishes in the dishwasher, Naoto got on his shoes as he walked towards the door, “I’m going to go for a walk,” He told Dawn, “I won’t be out long.”

“Alright,” she said, taking another drink of coffee before giving him a bit of a smile, “Do say hello to Pumpkin for me.”

That just had Naoto roll his eyes as he stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him. The teen felt the cool morning air blow past him as he began to take in his surroundings, noticing some of the neighbors picking up the morning newspaper while others were pulling out of their driveways and going to work. Everything seemed… somewhat normal this morning as Naoto started walking down the block. Though, after what happened to him last night, the teen still felt the need to be careful of his surroundings. Especially if the same people from last night were still looking for him.

One clear reminder of this was when he was walking across the street a couple blocks away from Sugarcube Corner and noticed the alleyway from last night. From a distance, he could see a couple of technicians were the air conditioning unit that caught fire last night. Right next to them, a couple of workers from the parks recreational center were cleaning up the dog park and had placed a wooden board over the hole that had melted in the fence. To everyone else that was passing by, they didn’t really seem to notice or care about what they were doing.

To Naoto though, seeing this was only a reminder of everything that had happened the night before as he turned around and walked away. The teen was out for a walk this morning to clear his head, not remember what happened last night. As he walked farther down the street, the teen came across a familiar sight. Sugarcube Corner was a block away from where he was standing. Yet, the downside was that they did not open yet for another fifteen minutes.

“Dammit,” the teen groaned, readjusting his gloves again as he continued to walk, “Looks like I have to wait.”

“Wait for what?”

Immediately, almost on instinct, Naoto turned to his right. He heard Midnight’s voice and part of him was expecting to see her transparent form when he turned his head. However, he didn’t see anything, “Midnight? Where… are you?”

“Oh, sorry,” she said, before emerging out of his right arm and appearing next to him. Like when he looked at himself in the mirror earlier, a series of symbols appeared by her head. However, there were five symbols instead of four and they weren’t exactly the same ones as before, “I kind of forgot that you feel more comfortable if you actually saw me while I was speaking to you.”

“Did you get that from reading my mind?” he then asked, trying to focus more on the girl instead of the symbols.

“More like remembering our first encounter the other night,” Midnight explained, “You were startled, but only began to slightly calm down once you saw me.”

“That… makes sense.”

“So, what's the matter?” she quickly replied back before Naoto had a chance to say anything else, “You sounded a bit disappointed just now.”

As she asked that, Naoto appeared in front of Sugarcube Corner, where the ‘CLOSED’ sign was still hanging as he looked back to Midnight, “I arrived a bit too early before Sugarcube Corner could open up. Normally, by the time I walk over here from my house, they would already be open for business. Though, that doesn’t appear to be the case.”

“Weren’t you here last night though?” Midnight asked.

“That… was for something completely different,” the teen replied back, before recalling something as he looked back towards Midnight, “Speaking of last night though, where exactly did you go after you… helped me?”

At first, it took the girl a moment to compose her thoughts. Though, after a few seconds, she was able to answer the boy’s question. “I was hibernating.”

“Hibernating?” Naoto asked, puzzled by how she explained it, “What, like a grizzly bear?”

“Not… exactly,” she said, “Last night, I used up a lot of magic. Not just to get away from the people that were chasing me, but to also bestow you with some of my gifts. By going back into your arm, I can recuperate and restore what magic I used up by falling asleep.”

“Wait… if that were the case, then how did you know that I was here last night?” Naoto asked, “You went back into my arm as we were leaving, but I didn’t come back until sometime later.”

“I didn’t fall asleep immediately after going back into your arm,” Midnight clarified for him, “After what you said last night about the possibility of those people trying to find us, I stayed awake for a bit and waited until we were somewhere safe before resting.”

“So, you waited until I was inside Sugarcube Corner before getting some rest?” the teen asked.

“To sum it up, yes,” she said, before looking back at him with a concerned look on her face, “Why, did something happen while I was asleep?”

In Naoto’s mind, this confirmed something that he thought about earlier. Midnight did not know about what happened after he returned to Sugarcube Corner, nor did she know about his conversation with Sunset that night. Given how he still had time before the bakery opened, the teen felt as if it was necessary to fill in some gaps for her. Doing so might also allow for the teen to ask the questions that were on his mind when he woke up this morning.

“Well, after you fell asleep, I went back to the party and tried to act like nothing happened. Though, someone was rather suspicious of where I had been and when I went back home, they tried to question me about what happened.”

“Who was being suspicious?” Midnight then asked.

“Someone very close to me who has raised my siblings and I since we were little,” he answered, “Though, Sunset really does worry about me a lot.”

“Hold on. Sunset?” the girl responded, “As in Sunset Shimmer?”

That was a response that was not anticipated at all. For someone he just met the other night, Naoto had no idea that Midnight actually knew Sunset. “Y-yeah, actually… how do you-?”

“She’s a very close friend of mine,” Midnight explained, “Though, it’s been years since I’ve last seen her and her friends,” the girl then looked back at Naoto and now asked him a question, “Why didn’t… you tell her about me?”

The teen scratched the back of his head nervously as he looked back at her. It was a bit hard for him to say what was on his mind, but he had to try, “I… didn’t think she would believe me if I told her. Not only that, but I didn’t want for Sunset to be in danger either. The last thing I would’ve wanted was to have the same people we encountered last night to come after her. I didn’t know that you two actually knew each other.”

Shortly after she heard this, Midnight crossed her arms as the girl looked back at Naoto. “I think I understand… Even though I don’t think that hiding something like this is a good idea, I think I get why you did it,” the girl responded, “However, what are we going to do if someone does find out? About us?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” he told her, “Right now though, there’s a couple of things that I want to understand first.”

“Oh?” she then asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, since you and I have our bond now, I want to know at least a bit more about it,” the teen explained, stopping himself as a couple of people walked past him, “I mean… you said before that you bestowed me some of your magic, but that doesn’t quite tell me what it is that you… well, gave me. Does that make sense-?”

Midnight nodded her head, but before she could answer her question, they both heard the bell from the front of the bakery. When they looked over, they saw Pound Cake nearby as he was unlocking the front door. Though, Pound only seemed to notice Naoto once he actually got the door open. “Naoto? What are you doing out here?”

“I was… well, waiting for you guys to open, obviously,” he remarked, looking at his watch to see that it was now ten minutes before the bakery was open for business

That just had Pound raise an eyebrow, before folding his arms as he looked back at his friend, “You do realize that you could’ve easily just knocked on the door and we could’ve just let you in, right? Better than just standing around and waiting out here.”

“That I did not know, actually.” Naoto admitted as he looked back at his friend. Out of all the times that he had been to Sugarcube Corner, he was never here exceptionally early like he was today. So this was kind of new to him.

“Well, you know now,” Pound smirked as he held the door open and motioned for his friend to come inside, “Come on in.”

As Naoto made his way inside, he found that most of the bakery had been put back to the way that it was before the events of last night. All the chairs were set up properly, the trash cans were back where they were previously and almost everything was neatly arranged in order. The smell of coffee brewing was in the air as well along with the scent of freshly baked goods as Naoto followed Pound over to the counter. Midnight herself followed closely behind the teen as he looked around the bakery.

Though, to Naoto, as he was looking around, the teen felt that something was missing as he looked back at his friend, “Um… where’s Pumpkin? Don’t the two of you normally get things set up together?”

“She accidentally slept past her alarm this morning after last night’s celebration, so I’m covering for her while she’s getting herself ready,” Pound told him, before walking behind the counter, “So, what can I get for you this morning?”

“Some coffee to start would be nice,” Naoto replied.

“Any particular size?” he then asked, “Or will you be having your usual order?”

At first, Naoto blinked as he looked back at Pound. Quite surprised by what he just said. “I have a usual order? Since when?”

“Since Pumpkin decided to write it down on a sticky note and place it back here,” His friend told him, pulling off a pink sticky note and turning it around for Naoto to see for himself. On the note, it said ‘Naoto’s Usual Order- Medium Coffee, three fourths of the way full, hazelnut creamer. Had alongside a toasted plain bagel and cream cheese’. To his surprise, he honestly didn’t think that Pumpkin would do anything like that, let alone call it his ‘usual order’. “So, what will it be?”

By that point, Naoto just sighed as he looked back at Pound, “I guess I’ll be having my usual then.”

In response, Pound could only smile as he got to work on his friend’s order. He first sliced a plain bagel into two halves and set both sides in the toaster oven, before going over to start getting the coffee ready. As Naoto waited, he happened to notice that Midnight was looking around the bakery and even going as far as to explore what’s behind the counter. Though, she returned a couple of moments later once his friend finished his coffee and began to get the order ready on the register.

“There we go,” Pound said, “That’ll be $1.69.”

For a moment, the teen was caught off guard. His order usually cost a bit more than that. If anything, it would be closer to five bucks, “Are you sure that’s right? It’s usually-”

“It’s for this,” his friend stopped him as he got the bagel out of the oven and placed it on a ceramic plate for him along with some cream cheese, “The coffee’s on me, so don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, uh thanks,” Naoto replied, before getting two dollars out of his wallet to pay for the meal. The change that Pound gave him was put in the bakery’s tip jar by the register as he took his first sip of coffee. However, when he tasted it, his hand flinched as some of the coffee was spilled onto his hand, “P-Pound, seriously?”

“What? What’s wrong?”

In response, Naoto just opened the lid as he looked back at what was inside. After he looked at it, the teen let out a groan as he looked back at his friend, “Y-you forgot to add the c-creamer.” he croaked as he handed the cup of coffee back to him.

“Oh, crap,” Pound cursed as he realized his mistake and took the cup back so he could fix it for him. He made sure to get the hazelnut creamer instead of the french vanilla and poured enough to make sure it didn’t spill out over the counter accidentally. After pouring it, he took a spoon and stirred it first, before handing it back to Naoto to have him try it. “Is that better?”

At first, the teen took a sip of the coffee, before setting the cup down and looking back at his friend. “Much better.”

After hearing that, Pound let out a massive sigh of relief, “Thanks. Pumpkin will never let me hear the end of it if she learned that I messed up your stuff.”

“Pound, mistakes happen all the time,” Naoto tried to reason with him, “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“No, seriously. Pumpkin will chew me out if she learned that-”

“Pound Cake!” The distinct sound of Pumpkin Cake’s voice rang through the store, causing one of the customers to flee with a knowing look directed at Pound. The teen girl came around the corner, holding a thick plastic fly swatter that looked as worn as Sunset did after going to one of Pinkie Pie’s parties. “What the fridge did you do wrong this time!?”

Naoto, upon hearing that, was thrown off guard almost immediately. He knew that Pumpkin and Pound would sometimes get on each other's nerves, but this was something completely different. He’d only see the girl act like this about sweets- having faced the wrong end of her wrath while at cooking class when they were partners.

Pound himself was shaking a bit, looking around as if he was trying to come up with some excuse so that he could not have to face his sister’s wrath. Though, lying at this point would do little to help him as he just gulped and looked back to where he heard his sister’s voice, “Uh, S-sis… I-it’s fine, really… I just f-forgot to put c-creamer in Naoto’s coffee-”

“You forgot!? You’re a Cake, and you expect mom and dad to let us use the kitchen when you make all manner of mistakes!?” She emphasized herself by hitting him with the swatter over the back of Pound’s head. “By Grogar’s balls… I’m making the drinks, brother.” She sneered as she set her makeshift beater on the floor and began to make a new cup of coffee.

Before he could say anything, his drink was replaced with Pumpkin’s, who had swapped from absolutely livid to cheerful in an instant. Something that threw Naoto for a loop. One moment she was bashing on her brother and the next, she was acting like nothing had ever happened. “G-Good morning,” he nervously greeted her.

“Morning Naoto! I hope my brother’s wretched coffee didn’t ruin your morning. How are you this fine day?” Pumpkin asked, ignoring her brother’s pout.

“A-alright, I g-guess,” Naoto replied as he took a strong sip of the coffee she made for him, “Still kind of waking up this morning, but the coffee’s helping.”

“Well, enjoy. I need to go teach my brother that messing up orders is not tolerated.” Before Pound could react, his sister’s fingers ensnared his ear in a painful vice grip. Pumpkin waved to Naoto as she dragged her brother away, kicking and screaming.

“Do those two… always act like that?” Naoto then heard Midnight ask as he turned to face her. She seemed to be rather shocked by all of this as well, especially with Pumpkin’s behavior just now.

“Only when someone messes up with cooking. Even the smallest of errors can lead to something like that,” he told her as he took another sip of coffee and tried to ignore Pound’s painful cries. After another sip, the teen thought that changing the conversation would help with that, “So, Midnight… do you mind if I asked you a couple of questions?”

“Actually… there’s someplace I need to go to,” the girl told her, “If you want, you can ask me the questions on the way over and I can try to answer them the best I can. Would that work?”

“Oh, uh… sure, I think that’s something we can do,” Naoto responded, before getting up and pushing his chair back in. Once he picked up his coffee, he stepped out the door and back onto the sidewalk as Naoto looked to Midnight, “So, where are we headed?”

“I’ll show you the way, just follow me,” the girl assured him, before leading Naoto to a crosswalk at the end of the block and pointing in the direction that she wanted for them to go. Once the light was green and it was clear for him to walk, they both began to cross over. Though, not before Midnight turned around to speak, “So, what was it that you wanted to ask me?”

“Well, there’s a couple of things,” Naoto told her as he took a bit of time to recall what it was that he wanted to say. Though, once he thought of it, he went forward with asking her about it, “First and foremost, and fair warning, I don’t mean to sound rude when I say this… but what are you?”

“Huh?” she tilted her head, puzzled by his words. “What do you mean?”

“Well, I don’t think you would appreciate it if I called you a ghost,” the teen explained a bit more, “So, I thought I would ask you and not assume anything.”

“Well, that… might be a bit complicated,” the girl said nervously, trying to compose her thoughts, “See, I’m what I would call a ‘Manifestation’. It’s when a whole lot of magic and leftover emotions take on its own form. Though, only people who have or had magic before can really see me… Does that make sense?”

“I think so,” Naoto responded back, “Though, that didn’t exactly sound too complicated.”

“I haven’t actually said the complicated stuff yet,” the manifestation corrected him.

“Oh uh… my bad,” the teen apologized, before noticing another crosswalk up ahead, “Which way are we headed?”

“Across this street and then go down to the right,” Midnight instructed him as Naoto pressed the light for the crosswalk. While they were waiting, the manifestation picked up where she left off on the conversation and began to fill Naoto in, even as the light turned green and they began to walk across the street, “Now, even though I have magic, it’s… difficult in order to maintain this form.”

“Huh?” he asked, “What do you mean?”

“Hmm… how should I put this,” the girl pondered, before she got an idea, “Oh, right! Think of my current form almost like a flower you would plant in a garden. When you first plant it, it’s alright. Though, you need to water it and take care of the plant, otherwise it’ll… well… wither up.”

“Now that’s an image that is now stuck in my head,” the teen thought to himself, before he thought of a new question to ask, “So, how do you… maintain that form, exactly?”

“There are two different ways,” she explained as they reached the other end of the street and turned to the right to walk farther down the block, “The first is through absorbing magic from special items. The second way to maintain my form is through bonding with someone, like I did with you. Though… before we forged our bond, I would only do the first option.”

Once he heard that, Naoto paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow as he looked back at Midnight, “Really? How come?”

“Well, it’s a bit simpler. Plus, a long while back, Sunset and her friends gave me something that helps with that,” the manifestation told him, “I would only form a bond if it's an emergency.” Midnight looked like she was going to say more on the subject, but hesitated and then looked away.

When he saw that, Naoto felt that he shouldn’t exactly push her on why she was acting like that. Instead, the teen decided to ask about something else. “How about magic? I know you said you bestowed it to me… but how does that work exactly?”

“How about we save that for when we reach our destination?” Midnight suggested, “It… probably wouldn’t be a good idea to use magic out where everyone could see. We’re almost there actually.”

“Oh really? Then where exactly are we-?”

Before he even had the chance to finish the question, the teen found himself standing in front of a place that he had only heard about. The building that used to be Canterlot High before the whole school was relocated, something he had only heard about from Sunset and a few other teachers that used to be students back in the day. There was a chain link fence around the area and the foundation itself looked like it was sinking into the ground. The front of the fence though looked to have been busted open as Midnight phased through it.

“Here we are,” she said, before looking back at the teen, “Welcome to my home.”

Naoto blinked, looking towards Midnight as he carefully went through the opening in the fence and followed the manifestation to the old school building, “Wait… you actually live here?”

“Yeah. There really isn’t any other place for me to be at,” the girl explained, “Follow me. The front door is broken, but there’s a back way into the school.”

As Naoto followed her and walked around the side of the building, he soon came across the back door to the school and slipped through. When he entered the building, the first thought that came to his mind was that this place had seen better days. Not only was there rubble scattered everywhere, but all the painted colors on the walls and ceiling were faded and had seen better days. Desks and lockers were scattered everywhere and windows were shattered too.

Seeing the state of the school led to Naoto asking one thing as he looked back at Midnight, “You… lived here? By yourself?”

Midnight looked away for a moment, before the manifestation came up with a response to her question, “T-there used to be one other… but now it’s just me,” She then looked up to another room, before looking back at the teenager, “C-could you wait here for a moment… I need to check something.”

The teenager nodded as he continued to look around the room, wondering what he could find as he began to investigate what was around him. As he was looking, he noticed that a door to one of the rooms was slightly open and decided to go take a look. Inside were a bunch of different musical instruments that were scattered everywhere. There was a drum set, a tambourine, a piano, a couple kinds of guitars, microphones and several other instruments that were all around the small room. Some were still in their cases while others were just standing there and had dust covered all over them. There was also a song booklet by the instruments too, one that didn’t look to have been opened or used in years.

After Naoto left the music room, he began to check the lockers that were in the hallway. Most of them either were locked or the doors were busted and couldn’t be opened. However, there was one exception to this as one of the lockers didn’t appear to have been damaged. As he opened it, the teen found what looked to be an old lunch box that was a bit rusty along the edges. Right next to was a robotic dog that looked to have been watching over the lunchbox. One that even had a purple collar with a tag that had the name ‘Mina’ etched on it.

Carefully, Naoto took the lunch box out of the locker and opened the lid. Inside there was a collection of different miscellaneous items. Spare metal parts, old tools, a CD, what looked to be keys to something and a folded note. Curiosity soon set in and the teen decided to unfold the note to see what was inside.

‘Remember that day when you were all moody and despite everything I tried you wouldn’t tell me what’s wrong? Well, I was flying through people’s houses, and I came upon this bizarre scene. A tight knit family all gathered around one of those televisions, laughing, and just having a good time. That’s what you want, right? To be human? I don’t see the appeal, but just know that you aren’t an abomination despite what you keep saying. And until you see that, I’ll always be by your side waiting, laughing, and having a good time so you’ll see that you’ve got someone looking out for you.

-S’

What was written puzzled Naoto at first, but then he remembered something. Midnight had said that there used to be one other that lived with her before she was by herself. Could this ‘S’ be that other person she was referring to? It was something that he would have to ask the manifestation about at some point, though now was not the time.

Despite reading the note and its contents, there was one particular thing inside the lunchbox that caught his attention. It was a partially faded photograph of Sunset and all her friends, presumably around his age when they attended the school. The picture itself was taped under the lid of the lunchbox and the girls were all standing in front of the school building. All of them looked to have been wearing some kind of necklace and each one of the girls looked rather different with their appearance, especially Rainbow Dash. Even Twilight’s dog, Spike, was in the picture and looked to be a puppy instead of the full grown canine that he was today. On the bottom corner, it had something written there.

“The Rainbooms, Class of…” Naoto blinked as he looked at the picture, before turning it over to see the date of when it was taken. If what he was seeing was correct, then this photograph was from twenty years ago. Sunset and the others would be slightly older than he was now.

However, he did not have the time to look at it for too long. For shortly after he found it, he heard a scream ring out from down the hall. Closing the lunchbox, Naoto grabbed it and placed it back in the locker before racing back towards where he came from as he looked around the room. However, he didn’t see any signs of the manifestation that was with him anywhere. “Midnight? Midnight, where are you?”

“U-up here!” The teen heard her voice from the second floor, before he began to race over to a nearby set of stairs and make his way up. As he reached the top of the stairs, the teen found her in what looked to be an old science classroom. The manifestation looked to have torn open some floorboards and was frantically searching for something.

“Midnight, are you okay?” Naoto asked her as he stepped inside the classroom, being careful of some of the glass that was on the floor. “Did something happen?”

“N-no, but,” she spoke, before pulling up another board that was on the floor as she was talking to herself, “W-where is it?”

“Where’s what?” the teen asked her, “Midnight, what are you looking for?”

In response, the manifestation stopped, before looking back at Naoto, “R-remember when I told you about those special items that help me with restoring my magic? Well, I had them hidden underneath the floor here, but they’re not there. I-i’ve been searching everywhere, but there’s no sign of them. If Sunset finds out that I lost them-”

“Wait,” he now said, looking back at Midnight, “Sunset? What does she have to do with it?”

“Because they used to belong to her and her friends,” she explained further, “They were a collection of geodes that granted them special magical abilities. They gave them to me, knowing that it would help me and that I would also keep them safe.”

That was a bit for Naoto to take in, but he could save any questions that he had for afterwards. Now he needed to help her, “Well, maybe they hadn’t gotten far. Can you tell me what they look like?”

“Well, I do have a picture of Sunset and the girls. They had the geodes with them at the time. Here, let me show you.”

When Midnight left, Naoto felt as if his blood was beginning to freeze. Surely, she wasn’t about that picture now… was she? He was really hoping that this wasn’t the case and that the girl was referring to something else entirely. Unfortunately though, when Midnight came back, she had a much different question on her mind. One that did not relate to the geodes.

“Naoto… were you going through my stuff?”

All he could really do was look away, before scratching his head. “I-i’m sorry, Midnight. I had no idea that those things were yours.”

“You could’ve asked me,” the manifestation retorted.

Despite what Naoto was thinking, he knew that Midnight made a point. If he said anything else at this rate, he was just going to dig himself a deeper hole. “Sorry, I didn't know about that,” he admitted, before trying his best to switch the topic, “I’ll make sure to ask next time. Though, you were wanting to show me something?”

The girl looked back at him, before lifting the lid of the lunch box and turning it around to face him, “You see this photograph? Well, if you look closely, Sunset and her friends each had their geodes with them when this photo was taken.”

Now Naoto was a bit puzzled, tilting his head as he analyzed the picture, “I… don’t see them holding anything.”

“It’s not something that they’re holding,” she corrected him, “It’s what they’re wearing. The geodes are the necklaces that they have in the photo.”

He blinked for a moment, before looking back at the picture. Like Midnight had said, each one of the girls had a similar matching necklace, with the only difference being the symbol that was etched in the middle. “Oh… well, that makes a lot more sense now. So, we’re looking for the necklaces?”

“That’s right,” Midnight replied, closing the lid of the lunch box, “After Sunset gave them to me, I kept them hidden in that classroom upstairs, only taking them out when I needed to recharge my magic. Though, I don’t know where else they could possibly be.”

That had Naoto start to think for a bit, “Do you think it’s possible that it fell through the floor?” He asked, looking back at the opening in the floorboards for a brief moment, “It’s likely that they could’ve just fallen through. I mean, this place has seen better days-”

When the teen looked back at Midnight, something felt off with how she was acting. She was looking away from Naoto and the opening in the floor, staring out one of the windows in the classroom. Her expression had changed, almost as if she felt something that sent a shiver down her non-existent spine. “Midnight, you alright there?” he tried to get her attention, only for his words to fall on deaf ears.

A few seconds later, he decided to try again, “Midnight? Hey… Midnight.” This time, he acted on instinct and attempted to try and grab hold of her. Only for his hand to phase through her body and for his second attempt to be unsuccessful.

Though, that didn’t stop him from trying again. This time deciding to speak up and raise his voice, “Hey, Midnight!”

The third time he spoke up did the trick, for the manifestation snapped back to reality once she heard him. The girl turning back to him with a puzzled look on her face. “Huh? W-what’s wrong, Naoto?”

“What’s wrong? You were staring off into space for the last couple of minutes,” He explained to her, “It took me a bit to try and catch your attention.”

“R-really?” Midnight now asked, “S-sorry about that. D-Did you want to talk about something?”

Naoto looked back at the girl, scratching the back of his head, “Well, before I found you staring off into space, I was trying to ask if it was possible that the Geodes could’ve just fallen through the floor,” he said, before pointing at the hole that was made, “Do you think that’s possible?”

At first, Midnight thought that the idea had some merit to it. Though, it was then that she slowly lowered herself into the floor for a few moments, before coming back up and shaking her head, “No, there’s no sign of cracks in the floor here.”

“Damn, there goes one possibility,” the teen cursed, his mind going back to the drawing board as he tried to think of some explanation for the geode’s disappearance. Yet, as he thought more on the situation, an idea emerged in his mind. However, it was one that sounded rather far-fetched. Still, the more that he thought about it, the more that he felt the need to share it to Midnight. It would be better than not having anything. “Midnight… can I run something by you?”

“What is it”

“Well, I can only think of one possible idea as to what could’ve happened… However, there is something I want to ask you,” Naoto’s question was met with a tilt of the head from Midnight as she waited for him to continue, “Aside from me right now, has there been anyone else that has visited this place?”

At first, Midnight hesitated. She didn’t answer immediately and just looked away from him temporarily. Though, after a moment or two, the girl answered his question, “O-outside of Sunset and her friends… o-only the people that were h-hunting me,” she said, “W-why do you ask?”

“Well, the only thought that I had in my mind was that if you didn’t misplace it and it didn’t fall through to the bottom floor, then the only other possibility would be that someone came and stole it,” he explained.

“B-but all of them were chasing me, even after I left the school,” she told him in response, sounding even more worried, “W-who do you think would do that?”

“Honestly, we don’t have very much to go on, so I don’t know,” Naoto replied back as he shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the floor, “My only guess is that maybe one of the people that was chasing you came back here because they left something behind and they ended up finding the Geodes in the process. It’s the only thing we have to go off of, really.”

To Midnight, she personally didn’t even want to think about what would happen if the Geodes that Sunset and her friends entrusted her with ended up in the wrong hands. “I-if that’s true, then we need to find them. B-before anyone learns how to use the magic in the geodes to harm anyone.”

“That’s easier said than done, Midnight,” the teen countered, “I mean, those people we encountered the other night were tough as nails, especially the woman who was trying to force me to talk. I wouldn’t even know where to begin when it comes to defending myself against them, let alone against someone that might be fighting with magic.”

Oddly enough, it was moments after he said those words that Midnight remembered something from earlier. First though, she decided to ask him a question, “Naoto, do you remember earlier when you were asking me about how magic works?”

“A bit, yeah,” the teen replied back to her, “Though, before we could really discuss anything, you told me to wait until we got here.”

“Well, since we’re on the subject, I think now’s the right time to talk about it,” the manifestation told him, “So, before we get started, what do you happen to know about magic?”

“Honestly, nothing,” he answered plainly, “Because I don’t think how movies portray magic is the same as how it actually works.”

Midnight had to admit, Naoto wasn’t entirely wrong with his reasoning. How magic actually works in comparison to most entertainment that people were familiar with was completely different, including the ‘magicians’ that pulled rabbits out of hats. “Well, I’ll try my best not to make this sound overly complex,” she assured him, “Magic and how well you wield it is affected by a few different things. Mainly, there’s two parts, depending on the spellcaster.”

“And those things are?”

“The first thing to keep in mind is mana,” Midnight explained to him, “All magic relies on it and much like how you would use up stamina when doing any major physical activities, mana works the same way. The more magic you use, the more mana you end up consuming. Though, some spells require more than others depending on the difficulty,”

After hearing that, Naoto now had a new question for her, “Huh… alright. Though, does that also mean that by taking a moment to rest, you regain mana too?”

“Sort of, but it takes longer,” she replied back, “Skilled magic wielders are able to master the abilities to the point that using up too much mana isn’t that much of a problem. Though, mana is not the only component that determines how strong a spell is. It also depends on the wielder.”

That part had the teen confused as he looked back at the manifestation and folded his arms. “How so? Isn’t the mana from the wielder?”

“It is… though, this next part focuses on a different aspect,” she replied, “Because even if you have a lot of mana, you need to have the willpower and intent to see it through. Focusing your spellcraft on what you want to do will increase the likeliness of your spell succeeding.” To demonstrate, Midnight closed her eyes and began to focus. Moments later, she was able to create a six pointed star that had five other stars alongside it. When Naoto looked at it, it strangely reminded him of a similar symbol that he saw on Twilight’s clothes. Yet, now was not the time to bring this up.

“So, let me see if I can understand this correctly,” the teen began to recollect what she told him, “In order for magic to work, you need to use mana… but you also need to focus on the spell you want in order to make sure it works correctly. Does that sound right?”

Midnight nodded her head in response, before going another step further, “Indeed, it is. Now, the kind of magic that someone is able to wield can vary depending on who’s conjuring it,” the manifestation explained, “Though, we can save the different kinds of spells for another time. Right now, you just wanted to know what you can do, right?”

Personally, Naoto liked it when he heard her say that. To him, it meant that he no longer had to wait around for Midnight to get to the point and answer the question he asked earlier in the day. “Yeah, that’s right.”

The girl then landed on the ground, before walking next to him, “Well, for you, your magic is rather… specific. Do you remember when I formed the bond with your right arm?” the only response that Midnight got to that question was a small nod, which prompted her to continue speaking, “On that night, when I formed that bond, the first thing that my magic came into contact with was the blood that was coming from your right arm. To put it simply… your blood is your magic.”

“Hold up… blood?” the teen interjected, “What, am I like a vampire now?”

“No, no! Not like that,” Midnight was quick to interject, “When I say that, I mean you can conjure your blood and have it take form. You can use it to create weapons and tools that help you when you fight,” then, she came up with an idea, “Here, let me walk you through it so you can see it for yourself.”

With that said, the manifestation returned to his arm as the teen felt something strange. A warm burning sensation that started from the right arm and quickly began to spread throughout his body. In Naoto’s mind, he was not sure if this was the feeling of his magic or if it was something else entirely. Either way, it was hard for him not to get nervous by what was happening.

“Don’t worry, Naoto. I’m still here,” He heard Midnight’s voice echo as he looked around the room, “I’m just in your arm and communicating mentally with your mind right now. That way I can walk you through the process of using your magic.”

“That’s… reassuring,” Naoto replied back, “Would it be right to assume that the burning feeling I felt just right now was my mana?”

“That’s right,” Midnight told him, “Now… close your eyes and try to see if you can focus on channeling that mana into your hand. Grab hold of it like it’s an object.”

Naoto nodded and did what Midnight instructed him to do, closing his eyes as he tried to grab hold. At first, it felt like he was feeling something move and caress around his hand. Then… it stopped. He tried to see if he could do it more, but nothing seemed to be happening.

“Um… Midnight?” He nervously asked, his eyes still closed, “Am I doing this right?”

Upon hearing him ask, the manifestation slowly emerged from his arm in order to see what he was doing. Unfortunately though, the results were not what she was expecting. Naoto wasn’t holding onto anything and at his feet, there were a few drops of what looked to be his magic soaking into the floor.

“This might take a bit longer than I thought.”

---

It had been several hours since Naoto and Midnight originally started with him trying to understand how his powers work. The only time that he was even out of the school was to grab a quick bite to eat for lunch to take a momentary break. Learning about magic was one thing, though trying to put it into practice and make it work was a completely different story. Especially with the amount of trial and error that they were going through.

“Come on… come on…” He told himself again, only for the same shortage of energy to stop. Which led to another unsuccessful attempt, “Aw, seriously? What is it that I’m not doing right? I’m focusing and trying to make it work, but each time it slips up.”

“Hmm,” Midnight thought to herself, scratching her chin for a moment. Though, as she was thinking, a new thought emerged in her mind as she looked back at Naoto, “Oh, dear… I think I might know what the problem is.”

“Huh?” he asked. “What do you mean?”

“I should’ve probably told you this when we were just starting, but it slipped my mind and I forgot,” the manifestation said, “When channeling mana normally, you just try to focus it in the palm of your hand. Though, since your magic seemed to be based around the creation of objects and weapons with your mana, you need to picture what it is you want to conjure first before you channel the mana into it.”

“That could’ve been helpful a few hours earlier,” the teen deadpanned.

“I’m sorry,” she replied back, “We all make mistakes. Even me.”

“Right,” Naoto scratched the back of his head as he looked back towards Midnight and repeated her instructions, “So… conjuring objects. I need to picture what I want first in my mind before channeling the mana. Anything else important that I should know about before I try starting over again?”

“You should probably stick with something small in size,” the manifestation recommended, “Usually, the bigger the object is, the more mana you need to pool into it in order to keep it stable.”

The teen nodded in response, before he started to try and follow the new set of instructions that he was given. He took a deep breath before he began to focus and picture what he wanted to make with his mind as he felt his mana move along his arm. This time though, something new happened. The power that he was channeling did not stop like the last few times he attempted to do this. Instead, it continued and expanded to the palm of his hand, the color of his magic being blood red as it began to take form and materialize.

When it was done, Naoto turned his palm around and looked at the creation that he made. It was a short blade that was about ten inches in length, the grip being four inches while the blade itself was around six inches. The teen was trying to picture that of a weapon earlier in his mind and right now, this was the end result. Even though it was not ideally what he thought he was going to make, Naoto still felt satisfied that he was actually able to pull it off after hours of his previous attempts being unsuccessful.

“Wow! You did it,” Midnight congratulated him, before floating over to take a closer look, “T-that was incredible, Naoto!”

“I… did,” the teen replied, still surprised that he managed to pull it off as he gripped on the handle of the blood blade that he created, “So, what happens now? Are we going to keep doing this?”

“Well,” the manifestation began to speak, before looking back outside to see the sun setting in, “On any other day, I would be more than up for seeing more of what your magic is capable of. Though, it’s getting late and your mana needs time in order to recuperate. If you continue any more, you’ll end up passing out from exhaustion.”

When he heard that, part of Naoto felt disappointed. The teen really wanted to see more of what he could do now that he actually figured out how to use it properly. Though, another part of him knew that if he ended up passing out here, he'd just end up making Sunset worried about him. Something that he didn’t want to do after the events of the previous night.

“Alright, I guess that makes sense,” Naoto said, looking towards the blade he conjured before he turned towards Midnight, “Um… how exactly do I turn this off?”

All Midnight could do was giggle, before giving him a reassuring smile, “It’s okay, let me help with that,” The manifestation then went back into his arm as a small chill went down Naoto’s arm. Just as quickly as his magic materialized, the weapon he made now deconstructed in front of his eyes as if it was evaporating right in front of him. “There we go. All done.”

“How… did you do that?”

“I’m bonded with you, remember? I just reverted the spell you just used so not only is the spell ‘turned off’ like you wanted, but I also returned the mana that you used for it back to you,” she explained, “There’s more to it, but I don’t think now is the right time to get into the details.”

“Right,” he said, before he proceeded to leave the building and get his phone out. He was going to call Sunset to check in with her and make sure everything was alright. Though, before he could even dial her number, the teen happened to receive a text message from Sunset.

‘Hey Naoto. I’m with the girls right now since Rarity’s flight is finally coming in tonight. She’ll probably want some dinner too, so we’re going to be out for a while. Feel free to make it yourself for dinner. Just make sure to keep an eye on Tide, alright? See you soon. -Sunset’

“Well, guess I know what I’m doing once I’m home,” Naoto said as he put his phone away and began to walk back towards his house.

“Huh? What’s that?” Midnight asked.

“It’s… Well, you’ll see once we get back home,” the teen told her before he continued further down the street as he walked back towards Sunset’s home. As he got closer, the sun began to set in the distance as the street lights began to flicker to life and illuminate the roads. He watched as cars passed by at each light as well as city buses dropping off people that were on commute as he walked past Sugarcube Corner on his way home.

By the time Naoto finally made it back, he was greeted with the sight of an empty driveway and no lights on in the house. As he approached the door, the teen got out his keys to unlock it, only to find that the door had not been locked properly. Carefully, Naoto opened the door and was greeted with the stench of alcohol looming in the air as he turned to his left. He could hear snoring coming from the living room as the teen walked over and found someone lying on the couch. They looked as if they had not had a shower in days, for their hair was a wiry and tangled mess and their clothes were a disorderly mix-up of numerous things such as a broken watch with rust and socks that were cleaner than the rest of her clothes. The figure slept soundly on the couch and was covered by a blanket of empty bottles across the full length of the couch.

Though, this person wasn’t exactly a stranger. In fact, Naoto knew her quite well as he began to slowly take the bottles off of her, “Aunt Eventide, what have you gotten yourself into this time?”

“Who-?” Midnight asked, before she emerged from her arm to see who he was talking about. “W-wait, isn’t that-?”

“Sunset? Not exactly,” he shook his head, bringing the bottles to the recycling bin that was outside, “Her name is Eventide. Sunset told me that she’s her twin, though, they were separated a long time ago when they were still children,” After throwing the bottles away, Naoto went back inside and grabbed a blanket from the pantry closet, before setting it over the woman as she slept, “Now she stays here with us. Though, she’s… seen better days.”

“What do you mean?”

“Eventide has… problems, I guess.” the teen said, not really going much detail into it. It was as Naoto was speaking that a small picture frame that was on the edge of the shelf above the couch fell over, landing on top of Eventide’s head before colliding onto the ground.

“Starswirl’s taint!” Eventide screeched, rolling off the couch and landing on a few of the booze bottles strewn about resulting in a ‘crunch’ing sound. Naoto heard the older woman screaming into a carpet, which muffled her. Upon hearing her fall onto the ground, Naoto rushed over to help her out.

“Eventide, are you alright?” He asked her, trying to see if she was okay and find the glass that was on the floor.

Eventide stayed motionless, but continued to moan into the floor. Which prompted Naoto to try and pick her up off the floor so he could set her on the couch. There was glass spread out around where she was on the floor, but Eventide herself did not look to be in major pain. If anything, she just seemed to be annoyed.

“W-what do you want, midget?!”

Immediately afterwards, Naoto dropped Eventide and let her roll back in the glass on the floor again. Something that caused Midnight to gasp as she watched Naoto from a small distance. “W-why did you do that?!”

“It’s an impulse,” Naoto admitted, not exactly liking what Eventide said before he dropped her as he pointed to the floor, “Besides, there’s no blood on the floor. If there was, then we’re going to have problems.”

“T-that’s not the point,” the manifestation retorted, “Whether or not there’s glass on the floor doesn’t excuse the fact that you dropped her like that!”

“Like I told you, it’s an impulse. I hate it when people call me out for my size,” the teen explained a bit more, not exactly thrilled to be talking about one the things that he hated the most as he looked back at Eventide.

Though, after a couple of minutes, Naoto began to hear her grumble in a rather low pitch as she laid down on the floor. “I-i’m s-sorry.”

It might not have been the most ideal apology, but it was enough to prompt him to pick her back up off the ground and set her on the couch again. After taking a moment to clean up the mess that was on the floor, Naoto proceeded to the kitchen as he grabbed the loaf of bread inside and a few more items to make himself something to eat. A simple Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich was enough to satisfy him for dinner. Though, when he looked back over at Eventide, the teen decided to get out another plate and make a second sandwich for her.

After the sandwich was made, Naoto placed the one that he made for himself on the dining room table before he picked up the second one and brought it over to give to Eventide, “Here you go. Something to help you sober up.”

“Thanks…” Eventide grumbled, not even bothering to pick up the sandwich, instead using solely her mouth to bite into the meal. It was a rather awkward situation for Naoto to be in, though he just had to grin and bear it for now. He was doing what he could to help Eventide and to him, that really mattered.

---