Chapter Seven: Secrets
Sometimes, knowledge is dangerous. Hell, most of the time knowledge is dangerous!
Some may say that it’s only the way knowledge is used that is dangerous and there may be a point there, but you have to remember that un-knowing something is impossible, even in magical colorful pony land.
Dangerous knowledge is the reason secrets exist. Secrets are hidden knowledge, to be known by the few because they have some sort of power.
Some say that humans keep too many secrets. Others say we don’t keep enough.
Ponies however are terrible at them… with a few very important exceptions.
Emerald Dream was not one of those exceptions.
I managed to catch up to her as she was running through the corridor that lead to the exit. I thanked my lucky stars that it was empty, probably because there were no classes at the moment.
“Emerald, wait!” I yelled out, trying to catch up to the excitable mare.
“Huh? What is it Hope?” she responded, stopping right in front of the exit door as if teetering over an edge with my life on one end and failure in the other...
“You can’t tell other ponies,” I told her in a low voice, trying to subtly shift in front of her so that she couldn’t rush through the door before I was done talking to her.
CONSTANT VIGILANCE!
“But why not? Just imagine their reaction! You’d become famous Hope! The first earth pony in history to perform magic!” Her eyes were full of stars, then she looked over my head towards the door as if she could see the future unfolding before her…
“Would I be? Let’s think about this clearly, Ms. Emerald. You graduated from the School for Gifted Unicorns, correct?”
“Yes…”
“And you know how things function around here. Now, tell me which of these is more likely; the school publicly admits that a magical earth pony has been admitted, thus encouraging thousands of other earth ponies who think they have my ‘gift’ to attempt the exams themselves, wasting everyone’s time unless another magical earth pony is found...Or they simply gloss over the fact I’m an earth pony in the records and never mention it to anyone outside the school circle, allowing everything to continue exactly as it always has?” I explained to her, having already been informed numerous times how much ‘tradition’ was valued by the school’s administration when I was trying to get admitted into it.
“So what you’re saying is that even if I went outside and told everyone that you can do magic…” She began seeing the implications.
“None of the teachers that were in the classroom are going to back you up…”
“... Meaning that most ponies won’t believe me because the word of one mare against the entirety of pony history is terrible odds,” she concluded smartly.
I’d give her full points. But I was helping her along, so she gets an 8.8/10.
“But wait, Hope! You can just show them some magic, then they’ll believe me!”
As you’d imagine, my thought process in that instant was something along the lines of:
Oh shit I didn’t think of that
quick an excuse
anything?
anything!
alright here goes!
“Uh s-sorry Emerald, I can’t! My magic is very different from a unicorn’s! It takes a looong time to recharge!” I had almost managed to say that without showing any hint that I was lying, but my stuttering luckily slipped by her.
“Oh… That’s a shame. When will you be charged back up?” she asked curiously, probably still hoping that she’d be able to tell everypony soon enough.
“I uh, don’t know! It just comes and goes! I think an earth pony body just isn’t able to handle magic, so I can’t really build it up inside me the way a unicorn does. Honestly, I’m just glad that I happened to have some at the right moment today!” I bullshitted, still trying to find a way out of this line of questioning before my lies grew thin.
“I see… Well, I suppose we shall just have to keep it a secret between us until a good opportunity presents itself,” she said, looking thoughtful.
“Y-yeah!” I said, thinking rapidly over how many lies I was gonna end up having to tell before it all came crashing down around me.
First day at a new school. A fiction classic!
From Hogwarts to the Jedi Academy, it seems like most famous stories always end up having some sort of first day to school, even if it’s only mentioned briefly. Maybe it’s because everyone can relate to it?
Ironic how ‘My Little Pony’ skipped most of Twilight’s school years… Although, I suppose watching a bookish unicorn with no friends learn about magic would have been boring compared to her quest to save the world, huh… Then again, considering how well Harry Potter sold, I sometimes wondered if the writers hadn’t missed an opportunity for a good flashback episode.
Regardless of my wonderings over the possibility for better ‘horse show’ episodes, I had finally managed to arrive to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, which now that I think of it, I really need an abbreviation for.
‘CSGU’ seems alright I suppose, but it reminds me too much of a certain video game…
Regardless, I thought I was prepared for every eventuality. After all, it was just a school. What’s the worst that could happen…?
I hadn’t bothered to take into account how big the school was. Sure, I had looked at it from outside numerous times and obviously I was inside it during the tests, but it hadn’t registered until that moment that I was actually walking into a fairly big place.
Like most of Canterlot, it was designed with the castle in the background in mind. It had two big spires jutting out of the ceiling on each side, with a centre one slightly hidden behind the inverted V formed by the entrance to the building. Mostly purple in color, it also was accentuated with suspiciously Twilight-mane pink decorations, almost like the building itself was based on the mare’s color scheme. I suppose it did only physically appear for one episode, but seriously?
At the entrance to the building, I saw two teachers standing in front of the school doors. I assumed they must be waiting for someone important, as they just ignored me when I walked by them. Strange. Was Twilight going to arrive soon or something? Did the teachers know that she was Celestia’s personal student by this point?
Trying to ignore the questions going through my mind, I walked up the stairs and past the main doors. I saw quite a lot of unicorns just minding their own business, while some of them seemed to be claiming lockers for themselves. Some groups, surely formed from years of knowing each other, were already talking amongst themselves.
Now you might think that I’d be immediately recognized as an earth pony and probably either kicked out on principle or at least asked why I was there, but you’d be wrong.
Remember, I’m a pretty young earth pony raised on an orphanage. The fact is, Canterlot or not, orphanages just didn’t have all that much food to spare. I’d heard more than once how tough it was for Emerald to manage the place while keeping everyone fed, and it showed.
Sure, I wasn’t malnourished or anything, but I was pretty small and thin for an earth pony.
Combine that with the young age of six and honestly it’s no wonder no one noticed me walking to what I thought would be a nice, out of the way locker for me to use. Having gone through both middle and high school before, I knew that the only way to avoid having every single one of your schoolbooks gone by the end of the year is to buy yourself a lock early on and never give anyone your combination even if it’s “pretty please with a cherry and cake on top just this once”.
Not that I had all that many schoolbooks, just the bare necessities. Being dirt-poor sucked.
Having finished putting everything I thought I wouldn’t need for my first class, History, I closed my locker and put in the lock, making sure before I left that it opened when I put in the correct combination. No “lock getting stuck in a critical moment” for me, thank you very much.
Hopefully, the class wouldn’t be taught by a ghost…
It began during roll call.
“Lost Hope?” the old unicorn said, looking up from her list of names. She seemed nice enough once you looked past the cranky exterior, with her pale blue coat and graying mane. The inkwell for a cutie mark was nice too.
I lifted a hoof, trying not to notice quite a number of other ponies staring at my back. I had decided that I’d sit in front during my first class because I knew that this was probably gonna have to be one of my best subjects, like it or not. You might wonder what I mean when I say that… Well.
I had looked at my schedule once and realized that it wasn’t going to be a good year for student Lost Hope. From best to worst. (Do note that because I transferred from another school, I was technically a second year and thus skipped the elementary literature and maths class I was told were taught in first year.)
PE. Funny how unicorn school has this, specially when my previous one didn’t.
Should do better than average, if I can start feeding myself better.
Math. Same old, same old. Not sure how this could change, to be honest.
History. I don’t think I need to explain why this doesn’t seem to have much to do with actually USING magic.
Magical Theory. Here’s when it starts getting tricky. While the theory itself isn’t a problem, there could be some actual spellcrafting involved here, which obviously I wouldn’t be able to perform…
Spell Progression 1. Crap. Unless I literally pull some rabbits out of my hat, not much I can do about this one.
Rune Magic. I don’t think there’s any way I could even attempt to fake this one… Although, just knowing the theory as to how these worked would be worth it. Are runes the source of Equestrian technology? Do you need them to enchant objects like the ones I used in my test? I couldn’t wait to fail this class.
Which meant that I only had 3 passes out of 6 courses, with Magical Theory being the clincher. I had to be perfect in the courses I could do if I wanted to move on to third year.
The teacher saw me with my hoof down and wrote down a check on her clipboard, then seemed to realize something and looked back up again.
“Mr...Hope. Are you an earth pony or is my sight already failing me?” she asked in a weezy, old mare voice. I could tell that there wasn’t any malice when she asked though.
“Yes, ma’am,” I answered respectfully, inwardly getting ready for either a traditionalist tirade about youngsters’ and their new ideas or a quiet sort of dislike that would haunt me throughout my school career.
Luckily, I got neither of those.
“Very well then. Holly Dash?” she asked, looking back at her clipboard again, apparently not at all concerned about having an earth pony in class. ‘Holly Dash’ showed herself to be present and roll call carried on.
Eventually, roll call ended with the whole class being present. It was the first day after all. The teacher began with a small lecture over the importance of history, which I noticed wasn’t too different from what my history teacher back at my old school had taught us.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…
Was my thought before the first wad of paper hit the back of my head.
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There's something I would like to point out.
How is his name Lost Hope? Emerald found a foal just barely out of his mothers womb, completely abandoned, and she just decided to name him 'Lost Hope'? He very well couldn't have told her his name as a foal at the time and she just thought of the same name his father gave him after he slept through the night in front of the orphanage?
Wouldn't she have given him a different name after finding him on the stoop, he didn't exactly come with a note or even a sign or identification of where he came from, much less the name only a specific rich stallion and his wife would know. How did he still end up with that name and why would a caretaker that runs the orphanage give it to a less than a day old foal.
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8226217
. Once he showed signs of being able to talk and understand her questions, she asked if he happened to remember anything. Remember that horses mature a lot faster than human babies and walk within hours of being born. It stands to reason that an MLP pony matures faster than a human and as such might actually remember his first hours/day alive. Despite disliking the name, he still told Emerald about it because it would both make her pity him allowing him to stay at the orphanage for longer and make her back up his story if he ever took the court case for 'abandonment' on Golden Watch and Silver Lining. He'd need proof of actually being their son for that though, and there's no convenient DNA technology in Equestria.
Is it hilarious that we're seven chapters in and I just noticed that? Good catch, that's a big plot hole.
Since I'm quite late to go back and add in a paragraph explaining this and no one else seemed to mind the plot hole, I'll leave it here as a response
Since Hope is unlikely to ever learn of this, I shall tell you here. Golden Watch and Silver Lining, being the proud and wealthy unicorns that they are, bribed the hospital records keeper to keep Hope's birth off-the-books which is why it took him forever to get into CSGU, having no identification documents whatsoever.
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Most of that works, except for the fact that scrying spells could exist and should he ever have need to ask a unicorn as to where his parents are... well being of blood relation would help. You can use a spell to track those of a bloodline and it wouldn't be all too hard.
With the right magic spells, he could prove their his parents without technological genetic research... but what if magic can prove that he never had parents to begin with?
You could put most of that in a flashback and retcon the plot hole out of existence.
Well well, this is an interesting little gem. I'm glad I stumbled across it! Apart from that minor name plothole, I've got no beefs with this fic whatsoever and eagerly await more!
Sir Bully, I would like to inform you that being a douche wont revive your parents.
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If somepony's unborn filly were teleported into a weird alternate universe before she was able to survive outside the womb, that would be even worse!
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That helps a lot, thanks!
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That. Was. AMAZING.
I've never even watched Psych, and yet I loved that intro.
As to whether or not it's a good comparison to the story... Well, that would be telling.
8309068
Once he showed signs of being able to talk and understand her questions, she asked if he happened to remember anything. Remember that horses mature a lot faster than human babies and walk within hours of being born. It stands to reason that an MLP pony matures faster than a human and as such might actually remember his first hours/day alive. Despite disliking the name, he still told Emerald about it because it would both make her pity him allowing him to stay at the orphanage for longer and make her back up his story if he ever took the court case for 'abandonment' on Golden Watch and Silver Lining. He'd need proof of actually being their son for that though, and there's no convenient DNA technology in Equestria.
I still haven't found a good way to add this to the previous chapters...
There must be different "tracks" one can follow at the school, so trying for "scholar" might work. Lost Hope might end up being a scholar's assistant at least. As for Lost Hope's name? He probably told Emerald his name, once he was able to talk. Recall that he was already fully aware prior to birth and was able to describe it and the events following, narrating this story.