The Oldest Lullaby

by flutterdash1

Quiet Now

There was no such thing as a ‘normal’ pony. All ponies were unique, different, and special in their own way. Even Shut Eye, a tan coated unicorn born in Manehatten and moved to Ponyville, who seemed as normal as anypony could be, was not as normal as many would think. For one thing, he was genuinely happy with his life. It was a great life. He loved his job and he loved where he lived. He had never experienced the loss of any loved ones nor any major disappointments. If he ever had any complaints, it was either with his slightly extra weight or when walking behind two slow ponies in a grocery store who blocked the entire aisle when he was in a hurry.

Foal sitting was a near constant source of joy and peace for Shut Eye. Playing games with them, seeing wonder in their eyes as he told them stories, made them their favorite snacks for good behavior, and taught them what he could about good behavior and habits, watching them grow into fine young ponies over the years, it was like a living dream. Even the little nightmare ones came around eventually, typically after they had a nightmare ended by Shut Eye’s intervention.

For all of his traversing of the dreams of ponies, he had never come across a nightmare that he could not turn into something enjoyable. Giant scary clown? Not so scary when it was a laughing clownfish in a tank. Surrounded by darkness? Just pull the blindfold off and look at the candy on the floor from the pinata you broke open. Falling? More like bouncing on a trampoline.

Shut Eye was not experiencing a nightmare this time. He was speaking to the embodiment of the Night. Beautiful and terrible as the cosmic void, reminding him of his insignificance and solitude, how everyone he ever knew and loved was just a spec on a spec floating through the unfathomable infinite emptiness that dangled above their heads.

“In awe?” The tall, dark mare asked, walking around him slowly, her bright eyes gazing upon him with amusement and something else that Shut Eye could not quite identify. Contempt? Disgust? He could not tell as it was not something he usually saw in another pony’s eyes. Least of all directed at him. But he read more than a few novels in his off time, and if any of those stories would have described someone as looking at another character with contempt or disgust, Shut Eye could not imagine a more appropriate look than what Nightmare Moon was giving him.

“You… you can’t be real…” Shut Eye stammered.

“Oh, can’t I?” she said, smirking as she turned about and circled around Shut Eye again. “Just an old mare’s tale, right? Just a shape on the moon to haunt the dreams of fillies and colts.”

“I’m dreaming…” Shut Eye said, trying to back away.

“Oh no, that is where you are wrong, my little pony,” Nightmare Moon said, suddenly looming tall and mighty over him, her green eyes now glowing with a bright white light. “You are having a nightmare!” she yelled, her voice loud and forceful. Shut Eye stumbled backwards, end over end, rolling from the power.

Slightly dazed, Shut Eye stood up on uncertain legs as Nightmare Moon appeared before him again, looking less amused and more spiteful.

“Tell me about yourself,” She said, “I would know who dared to intrude upon the realms of dreams and sleep, my realm, in my absence.”

“What?” Shut Eye asked, stepping back again. Nightmare Moon vanished, allowing the darkness to close in around Shut Eye once more. He attempted to cast a spell that would wake him up, but he could not even see the glow from his horn.

“Dreams and nightmares were one of my responsibilities before I was banished,” Nightmare Moon’s voice echoed around him. “The moment I returned, I could feel the intrusion into my domain. You and hundreds of ponies like you. Your kind have twisted and torn the dream web nearly beyond repair.”

Once more she appeared, this time looking like she had when she first materialized. Beautiful and terrible, but not so terrifying. Just intimidating as she glared at Shut Eye with her narrowed green gaze.

“I have matters to attend to before I undo the damage that has been done,” She said, “But when the Elements are mine, you will feel my wrath.”

“The… what?” Shut Eye asked before Nightmare Moon erupted with sapphire light. The magic washed over him like a wave of scalding water, knocking him through the back empty air of the dream.

With a gasp, Shut Eye woke up in his bed. He was shaking. He caught a glimmer of blue out of the corner of his eye but saw nothing except for his open window. He tried to close it with magic, but the moment he attempted it there was a sharp, burning pain in his horn.

“Ahh!” he cried out, lifting a hoof to his head. “Why did that hurt?” Shut Eye got out of bed and headed to the bathroom adjoined to his bedroom. Over the sink was a mirror, and when he stepped up to look in it he was surprised to see thin blue streak that ran the length of his horn, across the tip, and then down the other side.

The mark would not come off with soap and hot water either. After scrubbing it for several minutes, until his horn chafed a little, Shut Eye gave up and dried off. While the towel was wrapped around his head he heard his alarm going off and ran back to his room to silence it.

He noticed through the window that it was still dark outside. A few months ago, that would have been normal. But at this time of year the sun should have been peeking over the horizon by now. He checked his clock again before leaving his room to check the clock’s in the rest of his house.

They were all agreeing on the time. “Why is it so dark…” he muttered curiously.

“Mister Shut Eye?” a small voice said from the hall. Shut Eye turned and saw Tail Wind. The colt looked alert and frightened, his eyes large and full of tears.

“Tail Wind? Is something wrong?” Shut Eye asked, going over to the young pony as he began to cry.

“I h-had a bad dream,” Tail Wind sobbed. Shut Eye hugged him and tried to comfort him, leading him over to the couch to sit down. “Th-the princess was caught by a monster!” Tail Wind continued as Shut Eye took a blanket out of the closet to wrap around the child. “And everything got all dark.”

“There there, it was just a bad dream,” Shut Eye said. He tried to cast a spell to put Tail Wind back to sleep so that he could give him a good dream, but the moment that his horn sparked with green energy he felt the sharp burning pain again. Shut Eye quickly ended the spell and winced, biting his lip to prevent swearing.

The doorbell rang and Shut Eye got up to answer it, making sure Tail Wind was okay before leaving him. “I’ll be right back” he said.

At the door, Shut Eye opened it without his magic, not really wanting to experience that horrible pain again, and was only slightly surprised to see Tail Wind’s parents, Light Breeze and Gale Force.

“Good morning, Shut Eye,” Gale Force said, looking past Shut Eye into the house. “We’re for Tail Wind,” She said, as if that needed explaining.

“Mommy!” Tail Wind’s voice called from behind Shut Eye. The colt had heard his mother’s voice and come running. Shut Eye stepped aside so the foal could jump into his mother’s hooves.

“He had a bad dream,” Shut Eye said, feeling rather odd having to admit that. Typically bad dreams were a thing that fillies and colts stopped having after spending a night under Shut Eye’s care.

“Its no wonder,” Light Breeze said as his wife and child headed back down the front walk from Shut Eye’s house back to the street. “Nightmare Moon’s returned!” he said, eyes wide and voice pitched.