The Elder Sign

I hate hospitals.

It’s not the fact ponies die there.

It’s the smell.

Needles too. I hate needles.

I took a deep breath and blinked the sleepiness away. Nightmares were never fun, but the last collection seemed to linger and weigh on my mind. I pushed them away as I considered my surroundings.

The machines around me seemed like standard medical equipment meant to ensure I stayed alive. I can’t tell much beyond that, I never really bothered with medicine. Just take the meds and shut up, that’s what I always did.

I lifted my head to look at one of the monitors and found I couldn’t move. Attempting to lift my hoof to check why was also impossible.

Waking up strapped to a hospital bed is not good.

At least I could see around the room a little. Not that there was much to see beyond the machines and a door. Not even a window.

The door opened loudly, announcing the arrival of an orange pony in a lab coat, “Good to see you’re finally awake!” He trotted over to the machine on my left, a clipboard floating behind him glowed a light orange color.

“Don’t worry, I’m just taking down all your vitals. Nothing to worry about,” he smiled. He must have noticed my apprehension.

A stool slid over to the side of my bed. The doctor sat down on it as he said, “My name is Dr. Sawbones. Doc Saw for short.”

I opened my mouth to speak and instead ended up coughing a lot of gunk up.

A small handkerchief cleaned my face immediately, and the doctor continued, “Please take it easy. You’ve been in a coma for quite some time. If you push yourself, you may end up getting hurt.”

“Coma…?” I grumbled, my voice scratching the sides of my throat.

“Ah…yes, you’ve been…unconscious for some time,” Sawbones said slowly, “Before I explain, I need to ask you some questions to check for any memory loss.”

The clipboard floated down as Sawbones asked, “Do you remember your name?”

I went to nod, but immediately remembered I couldn’t, “Emerald…Shine.”

He nodded with a smile and asked, “Where did you grow up?”

“An orphanage…” I coughed loudly, “On the outskirts…of Canterlot…”

“Good…and what is your current address?”

I wheezed, “A block away…from Lunar Square…in the Friendship Arms Apartment Complex…Apartment…301…Canterlot…”

“Good…now,” as he asked, the quill on his clipboard straightened up, “What do you remember right before you woke up here?”

“I…” I began, but stopped. I felt like I remembered, but every time I went to grab the memory it drifted further away. Trying to remember anything kept drawing blanks. All I could remember was Moorfrost nagging me about my bowtie. Why was I wearing a bowtie?

My head pulsed painfully. I squeezed my eyes and mouth shut tightly. If I could have moved, I would probably be writhing and shouting obscenities. It felt like a jagged rock was shifting around in my skull.

The pain disappeared quickly. I blinked the spots out of my eyes. The machines were beeping like mad and Sawbones’ quill was scratching away.

“I…I can’t…” I muttered, blinking away tears.

Sawbones leaned over and put his hoof on my shoulder, “It’s ok, that’s why I’m here. We expected some memory loss when you awoke. Alcohol poisoning on this scale is extremely dangerous you know!”

“What?” I asked, completely bewildered by his last statement.

He looked down at his clipboard and said, “Alcohol poisoning. You were brought in after passing out on the way home. You drank yourself into such a stupor…well, it took five days for you to wake up!”

“Five days?” I repeated.

Sawbones nodded.

“I don’t remember anything,” I said simply.

I heard the rustle of paper as a newspaper floated in front of me.

“Maybe this will jog your memory,” Sawbones said, “It’s from the day after you were brought in.”

It was a copy of the Canterlot Chronicle. A single article reporting on the Grand Galloping Gala the night before took up the entire front page. I quickly looked over a summary at the top:

CATASTROPHE AT THE GALA

For years, the Grand Galloping Gala has been regarded as the premiere event in the social calendar of Canterlot. This year’s Gala will most likely go down as one those who attended would like to forget. We present here a short list of our stories covered in the following pages.

• Prince Blueblood claims a cake-covered maniac attacked him. Witnesses do corroborate the prince’s story, but several claim the prince brought it on himself when he grabbed the nearby unicorn and used her as a shield to protect himself from a flying cake.

• A cyan Pegasus is accused of property damage. The Pegasus tried to save a large statue from falling over, but instead caused several thousand bits worth of damage and endangered several bystanders. Princess Celestia has already pardoned her however.

• A yellow Pegasus is accused of causing an animal uprising. The Pegasus was trying to capture several of the rare animals on the castle grounds, causing several to flee into the Gala, creating panic amongst the guests. She has also been pardoned.

• An apple vendor and a pink pony are wanted for cake-related assault. The illegal vendor had created the cake and wheeled it into the main ballroom when a pink pony dived off the stage and landed on the cart, sending it flying towards Prince Blueblood. Questions remain as to whether the ponies caused an accident or were part of an insidious cake based assassination.

• A green unicorn had to be removed from the grounds for drunken behavior. The unicorn drank several bottles of hard apple cider before arriving and had to be removed after approaching Princess Luna and making several distasteful remarks. After he was determined to be drunk, the guards removed him. Princess Luna will not press charges.

• A runaway carriage crushed a blue pony shortly after the Gala. A stallion was tying himself in when it came loose and rolled down a hill, striking and killing the mare. The incident has been ruled an accident, though the investigation continues.

• Four ponies were killed after their carriage veered off Sunset Bridge. The cause is linked to a faulty wheel that came loose, causing the carriage to drag to the right. The stallions pulling attempted to compensate, but were unable to as the carriage veered the opposite direction and off the side. The carriage was submerged in the water for fifteen minutes before several bystanders pulled it out. An investigation has yet to conclude whether it was accidental or possible sabotage.

I read over the articles. As I did, I felt something come back to me. All at once, the night came rushing back in fragmented pieces.

I was nervous. I got myself a bottle and took a few swigs to relax.

I hopped into the carriage with Hex. I took another few swigs as he tried to calm me.

We arrived. I greeted Princess Celestia and nearly fell over when I bowed.

I ran into a mare. I can’t tell what I said, but she seemed offended.

I downed the bottle. The night wasn’t going well for me.

I stumble to Luna. I said something to her, got too close. Guards pulled me away.

The carriage was spinning. I slid over in the seat and blacked out.

Sawbones pulled the paper away. He asked, “Now, what do you remember?”

I paused as the memories floated through my mind again. I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it immediately. Something didn’t fit about the memories.

I don’t drink. I like regular apple cider, but the hard stuff has an edge from the alcohol that I don’t like. So I never really drink. Also, despite being wasted, the memories were pretty clear. Even when I’m falling over and can barely stand, the memories are as clear as film. I've never been drunk, but shouldn't it be less clear what happened?

Wait…didn’t...I was just told something like this, wasn’t I? Alhazred had said…something about me not getting removed from the Gala early…

“What do you remember?” Sawbones repeated, a tone of force in his question.

Alhazred said I wasn’t removed from the Gala early…that I hadn’t been drinking…

He saw this coming! How is that possible? Was it just a lucky guess? Who is he anyway? WHAT is he?

I noticed out of the corner of my eye Sawbones was looking at me oddly. His eyes were narrowed, as if he was scrutinizing my every twitch. The expression on his face reminded me of a teacher ready to punish a student for misbehavior.

“What do you remember?” Sawbones wasn't asking anymore, he was demanding an answer.

“I…barely remember...most of the Gala…” I muttered.

The quill stopped.

“I can’t believe I got so…drunk…I remember making an ass of myself in front of the Princesses…”

The beeping from the machines picked up slightly. Sawbones shook his head with a sigh. The quill scratched heavily across the paper.

That’s not good.

“It seems we have a small problem, Mr. Shine,” Sawbones said as he stood and walked back towards the door.

I started to panic, “That’s all I remember!”

Sawbones didn’t respond. The door swung shut behind him as he left.

I licked my lips nervously. I just realized I was rather thirsty.

Oh, and I’m freaking out about the fact I’m in an isolated room being interrogated by some quack.

I have to get out.

I try to lift my head, my fore legs, my hind legs, anything to loosen the bonds. Nothing. I’m strapped down so tight I can’t move at all. My magic won't work at all. Every time I try to focus, nothing happens.

My only plan failed.

I stopped and tried to relax.

What’s going to happen now? He kept asking me about what I remember. All I can remember is getting drunk at the Gala. But Alhazred said that was a lie. He said I was attacked by a-

My head threatened to split apart as pain shot through my body. The machines went crazy, beeping and flashing like mad.

Hex was being a pervert about Spitfire during the ride. I was sick.

Princess Celestia greeted me. She warned me about mentioning the stars to Luna.

I ran to a bathroom to throw up from nerves.

I ran into a mare on the way back. She flipped out.

“The stars are right. You will fail, Keeper.”

There was an explosion. I got knocked out.

Hex found me. There wasn’t any evidence of an explosion.

Hex thought I was crazy. Led me out to a balcony.

I got in a fight. Lost. Hex saved my flank.

Luna talks at level eleven.

She was nice! Stonehoof was a dick.

Stonehoof hated Hex. Hex hated Stonehoof.

Stonehoof knew me. Hex told him off.

Luna stopped him. She was kind, despite what happened.

Screams. A mass of flesh and acid. “It’s a shoggoth.”

We couldn’t get out. Luna wanted to help Hex.

We were trapped. About to die. I couldn’t do it.

The Elder Sign.

I turned it to dust. Collapsed again.

I wheezed heavily as the pain subsided. The images rushed through my head at high speeds, little more than blurs. But I comprehended and understood what had happened instantly.

I had fought and defeated a shoggoth to save Hex and Luna.

“You look like hell Emerald.”

Hex was sitting on the stool by my bed. Sawbones was standing behind him. They must have come in when I was zoned out.

He grinned when he saw me looking back, “You really are being a problem, aren’t you Emerald?”

I had a million questions. I knew which to start with.

“Who are the Keepers?”