Reincarnated Immortality

When this world began, there were few worries or troubles to be concerned of. Life was simple, practical, and straightforward… I was brought into this world in the usual way. My parents taught me what little they knew themselves and forced me out of their home so I could find my own. As the general population grew, ponies banded together to work toward common goals. But as more villages formed, the higher the tension seemed to rise. They could not all agree on what was best or who had the right to do what. Soon, the petty arguments the villages had with each other turned into conflict and, eventually, war. I followed my friends into a pointless battle against our neighboring village for land. We sought blood for being denied what we wanted, and we were blinded by it. This was when I first died. A crudely crafted wooden spear struck me and pierced my heart. Fool didn’t even have the courtesy of removing it from my body after he struck me; of course, it was probably his body that I found next to mine the next day. All around me I could hear the sound of screams and death, muffled, but still distinguishable from my own amplified breathing. I bled out slowly on the battlefield as I desperately clung to life, hoping somepony would come to save me, but none would come. Who would come to save a savage killer? Darkness eventually crept over me long after the battle had ended, I finally accepted my fate. I could do nothing for the longest time but stare into the black void of nothingness, until I felt my head resting on the cold ground.

I opened my eyes slowly, unsure of what I would see, and was surprised to see the battleground before me. Everything was in ruin; dead bodies littered the ground, buildings crumbled to ash due to the fire they had been exposed to. I could only feel sadness in my heart for the tragedy before me. It wasn't supposed to be like this... Tears filled my eyes as I saw all of my friends dead before me. I examined myself for injuries but found none. I stood up and took one step forward to find my hoof had landed on a book, or perhaps, it was more of a journal. It was made with a strange material that appeared rigid but was smooth to the touch. It didn’t have an elaborate design or any markings to distinguish it as significant except that it was kept closed by a small, simple latch. I picked it up with my magic and undid the latch. That is when I heard a soft chuckle and noticed the creature sitting beside me.

I dropped the book when he spoke. “I always was rather curious.” He too had been looking out into the carnage. “I suppose that’s why I have a fascination with death. How peaceful it must be to drift into nothingness and never return.” I could not speak, nor think of anything to say to something so… dark, let alone converse with this creature. His appearance however seemed vaguely similar to an old legend your village held, but it was now merely used to frighten children to prevent them from doing anything wrong. The legend told of a creature that bore no fur, save on its head, grew no tail, and could conjure dark magic from two of its appendages, which resembled the arms of a monkey. His skin was primarily green and black, but was a pale tan around his facial region. Considering he was eye level with me while he was sitting, his height must have been at least three times my own. A staff, made of what I assumed were skulls of his own kind fused together, lay in the grass beside him.

“Who are you?” He looked at me and smiled.

“A simple question with a complex answer.” His gaze seemed to pierce my soul to the point that it felt like the tendrils of death had come for me again. “My name is Carn. I have watched the world turn for ten thousand years and in the process, attempt to maintain a balance between each of the nation’s power. I was chosen by our gods to bear this burden. One hundred years ago, our gods were destroyed and with them, my entire race. But such power and knowledge does not simply disappear, new gods will rise in their place, gods that your race will follow. When they are formed, my duties will be required once again.” So much information was dumped upon me, I could barely comprehend it all, let alone contain the endless stream of questions filling my mind to the brim.

“Then why are you here? Shouldn’t you be preparing for their arrival?”

“I’m afraid that it’s not my job anymore. I could not do what I would need to do to maintain balance as a member of an extinct race. Besides, I’m about to die again, hopefully for the last time.”

“I’m sorry what?”

“Ten thousand years is a miserably long time to live, especially when one must experience the pain of death every fifty years or so.” He smiled, but I could see the sorrow in his eyes. “You yourself have already died once.” He gestured a few yards to my right. I followed his arm and found a familiar figure among the dead, one I recognized all to well as my own. I slowly stepped toward it, frightened, but intrigued at the possibility of it being true, the possibility of being ‘immortal.’ “Go, bear this burden of mine my successor. The book will guide you.” It was the last time I would hear his voice. The questions that lingered were stowed in the back of my mind as I approached the body, wooden spear still embedded in its chest. It was impossible yet, here was proof that I had died and returned in a new body. I poked it, stiff, cold, but real. My first thought was of joy, I could do anything I wanted with little to no consequences. I turned back to the creature, but he was already gone. I ran back to where I had woken up and found him lying in the grass on his back, his gaze fixed on the sky, smile drinking in the sunlight that touched his face.

I cautiously approached him and searched for some sign he was still alive, but as soon as I touched him, he began to disintegrate. It started slowly from the point that I touched his shoulder, and it quickly spread to the rest of his body. Soon, all that was left was the hard casing of his skin and the skull staff beside it. I looked back at my old body and discovered it had disappeared, most likely due to the same reason his had. I was left with so many questions of from which their answers only spawned more questions. Such a gift would not come by without a price. I searched for and found the small journal I discovered when I originally awoke. He was right, I was very curious, perhaps a little more than I should have been. I opened the journal, and quickly shut my eyes, half expecting my body to be absorbed into some kind of white light, but it never came. I opened my eyes and peered inside. Words. Nothing else, just words. Line after line of random names, dates, events, deaths… deaths? I saw my own name among those lines, as well as many of my old village friends who I had seen die on the battlefield. I kept reading through them, name after name, after name, after name, until I came across the still writing pen held to the paper, being controlled by my magic.