“Hush now quiet now….”
It was raining. Every drop felt like ice on my coat.
“It's time to lay your sleepy head…”
“Has he said anything else?” A female voice said.
“No, he keeps repeating that lullaby over and over. He hasn’t said anything else since we found him in the woods.” A male voice replied.
I couldn’t stop shivering. I couldn’t get warm. I was rubbing my shoulders and forelegs constantly trying to warm them. I just couldn’t do it.
The rain stopped over me. I paused and looked up. She was looking at me with such sadness and pity.
I looked down immediately. The face reminded me of my mother’s.
I couldn’t bear to think of her.
“Hush now quiet now…”
“Don’t worry, he can stay here until we find his family. I’m sure they’re worried sick about him.”
I heard a pony trot away, hooves splashing in the puddles along the street.
I couldn’t stop shivering, even with the umbrella now blocking the rain.
“Hey there, what’s your name?”
I stopped for a moment.
I shook my head and muttered, “Here is a candle…to light you to bed…here comes a chopper…to chop off your head…”
-----
“Are you feeling better?”
I just finished eating. Soup was never a favorite, but I was too cold and hungry to care.
I looked at her and nodded. She had brought me dinner in bed and didn’t leave. She kept looking at me so sadly.
“What’s your name?” She asked again.
I stared at the bowl in front of me. I have to give her my name.
“Emerald…Shine.” I muttered.
She smiled and said, “That’s a very nice name.”
She paused before asking, “Do you…know where your parents are?”
I kept staring at my bowl. I didn’t want to lie.
She sighed, “It’s alright Emerald. You’ll be safe here.”
-----
I hated rain. Nothing good happens when it rains. It had to be raining today.
“So what is the actual test?” One of the colts next to me asked his friend.
The second colt quickly scanned the hallway. It was only the four of us. I was staring out the window, and the filly on my left was buried in a book.
He said in a hushed voice, “My brother said it was to hatch a dragon.”
My eye twitched slightly. Could somepony our age to do that? Should I be able to do that?
“Seriously? How do they expect a colt to do that?” The first colt asked.
“I don’t think they actually expect you to hatch it. It’s more about how you try to hatch it. I heard there have been a few ponies that could hatch them.”
The door opened and a voice called, “Next!”
I got up and trotted through the door.
I just entered the ground floor of a lecture hall. Along the furthest row in the back were the judges. Each wore a stern look and a clipboard floating in front of them.
The dragon egg was sitting on a wagon in front of me. Time to see if I’m cut out for Celestia’s school.
I closed my eyes and imagined the desired result.
I want that egg to hatch.
Hatch.
Seriously. Hatch.
Now.
I opened my eyes. Nothing happened.
I quickly looked over at the judges. They did not seem impressed.
I closed my eyes and tried again. I wanted this to work so badly.
I could hear the cracking. Even before I opened my eyes again I knew it worked. I have no clue how, but it was the desired result.
Sitting in the remains of its shell was a small ice blue dragon. As I looked at it, it began suck on one of it’s claws.
It’s actually really cute. I smile a little looking at the small dragon.
Huh.
It stopped raining outside.
-----
Another day of boring classes.
I yawned as the teacher continues to explain different magical theories I have no drive to actually understand. Earth energies this, Lifestream that, balance between Order and Chaos, blah blah blah.
“For the next assignment,” the teacher said, turning to look at his class, “I’d like each of you to pair up and work together.”
Immediately, friends began grabbing each other to ensure they would be paired up. In the chaos, everypony quickly moved their desks together to be with their friends.
I hadn’t moved. Nor did anypony come over to work with me.
It always happened that way.
The teacher came over and said, “Still no partner, Emerald?”
A small mocking grin appeared on my face, “Sorry, sir. It seems I’ll be alone again, as always.”
“Don’t worry about that. We have a new student today, and I’ll be he would like to be your partner,” my teacher replied with smile on his face.
Darn it.
A desk dropped down next to me with a loud clatter. The new kid had brought his desk over and was smiling at me.
“What’s your name?” He said, still smiling like a mad pony.
I stared for a moment at him. The gray colt was nearly bouncing in his chair he was so excited to be here.
“Emerald Shine. And you are…?” I replied.
“Call me HP,” he said.
“What does that stand for?”
His smile turned into a grin, “To the mares, it stands for…High Performance.”
“To…just mares? Is that a pick-up line?”
He ran his hoof through his mane and said, “To you, it’s Hex Pen Lovecraft.”
“Hex? That’s a weird name.”
“It’s a tradition of sorts in my family. My dad’s name is Hay Paper.”
I chuckled slightly. Hex didn’t seem like such a bad pony.
-----
I awoke with a start.
I was home, in my living room. I guess I fell asleep in my chair.
Now would be a really bad time to find out the Gala had turned out to be some long winded delusion or something like that.
I let out a long sigh as I rubbed my head. “Really need to stop sleeping in this chair,” I muttered, “Gives me the weirdest dreams…”
“What were you dreaming about?”
“I was dreaming about…” I began.
I jumped out of my chair and turned to face my guest.
Where is the other half of my living room? A few steps ahead of me, the carpet and walls abruptly ended and became cobblestone. Half my apartment had been replaced with a simple cobblestone room with a chair and my guest.
A zebra? I’ve never met a zebra before. They were rare in Equestria, but I have seen a few around Canterlot. He was sitting in the cobblestone half of the room, leaning back with his hooves crossed in front of him. Though I've seen many zebras, almost all of them have black and white stripes in their coats and manes. My guest’s coat did have the stripes, but his mane was a ghostly white.
Why is a zebra sitting in…what’s left of my living room?
“Hello Emerald,” he greeted me with a warm smile.
He knows my name. Wonderful. “You know my name?”
He nodded, “Of course I do.”
“And you are…?”
“Ah!” He exclaimed with a laugh, “I forgot, it is rude to invite yourself into a house without introducing yourself first!”
“Yeah, it kinda is,” I muttered sarcastically.
“Allow me to introduce myself,” he said, standing from his chair and bowing, “My name, is Alhazred.”
I tilted my head slightly.
“I’m insane. This is crazy. I have gone mad!” I said, rising to a shout, “WHAT IS GOING ON?” I dropped back into my chair and began rubbing my head.
Alhazred shook his head with a sigh and said as he sat back down, “You are not insane. At least not yet.”
He leaned forward and stared at me, “Do you recognize my voice?”
I stared back. This can't be happening. I replied, “You were the voice. The one I heard when the shoggoth almost killed us.”
He smiled, “Yes, I revealed to you your power. If not for me…well, it is not a pretty thought.”
“This is a joke isn’t it?” I said desperately, “This is all a joke. Hex probably hit me with some…hallucination…spell thing as a prank! The Gala, the shoggoth, you, it’s all him bucking with me again! Alhazred? Do you seriously expect me to believe that?”
“Hex Pen Lovecraft would not use a shoggoth as part of a prank. He and the Keepers have worked too hard to keep the spawn of the stars at bay,” Alhazred replied, a touch of annoyance in his voice.
It shut me up immediately.
Alhazred looked to his left and said, “We don’t have very much time, so I will be brief.” I followed his gaze to the large door on my right. I don’t remember that door existing…not that it surprises me anymore.
He leaned back and began, “You have heard that name before, correct? Hex Pen Lovecraft and the Keepers of the Night have ensured the safety of Equestria for over a thousand years. From behind dark shadows and closed doors, they work to destroy the spawn of the stars, and the Great Old Ones who threaten your world.”
He paused, took a deep breath, and continued, “You were not imagining the meeting with that mare and her committing suicide. You were not hallucinating a monster when the shoggoth appeared. You didn’t hallucinate any of it because of intoxication, and you were not removed from the Gala early. When confronted, you rose up and struck down a monster with the power of the Elder Sign.”
I instinctively dropped my gaze to my cutie mark.
“A cutie mark represents your special talent, what you were born to do, something you can do without any effort. Some would call that destiny,” the zebra said with a small smile, “When the time came you wielded that power without effort. You were able to protect your friends, and you were able to destroy the shoggoth.”
“I…” I muttered, “Something was…”
“Your father would be proud. Of your skill, at least. But the purpose? He would be angry. Wouldn’t he?” Alhazred asked.
My eyes widened in shock. I started tapping my hoof on the arm of my chair nervously, “I…never really knew my father…”
I looked up at Alhazred. He seemed disappointed.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said simply. He looked over at the door again and added, “I had hope things would be different this time.”
“What do you mean?”
Before he answered, the door began to rattle. Somepony was trying to open it, from the sound of the handle being wrenched every which way.
Alhazred clapped his hooves together and said cheerfully, “Our time is up, the real world has come to collect you!” He waved and asked, “You will not mind me coming by tomorrow night, correct?”
“Do I have a choice?” I replied with a small grin.
Alhazred smiled back, “Of course. You can deny yourself the truth. But such things cannot be ignored forever.”
I sighed and dropped my gaze to the floor. I didn't know what he meant. But the more I thought about it, I did.
When I looked back up, the zebra had disappeared.
I got off the chair and trotted to the door. The handle glowed with my magic, and the door swung open.
A bright light blinded me. I instinctively raised my hoof to cover my eyes, but I couldn’t. The soft hum of a machine and gentle beeping filled the air. The smell of disinfectant filled my nose. My eyes adjusted slowly to the terrible light, allowing me a chance to finally figure out where I was.
A hospital. I was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to several machines with various lines and images on them.
Before I considered anything more, I grumbled, “I really hope I’m actually awake this time.”