The GiftPrologueBy The Accursed One
During Pre-Equestrian times, some ponies were born with unnatural talents. Some could go through time, some had extreme intelligence rivaling that of the gods, and some had a lifespan much longer than the average, possibly even reaching into the modern era. But the strangest thing about all of these ponies is the fact that none of them were unicorns; in fact, the majority were Earth ponies, long thought of as inferior to the other races. Everypony back then simply considered them gifted by the gods and they wondered about the origin of such a gift.
Being a non-unicorn had some serious disadvantages: all work was physical, transportation was harder, and the average lifespan was shorter simply because of the stress placed on the body. Those with the rare Gift were literally created and placed through time by the Elder Gods to prove that the non-magical could still prove to be powerful. It is believed that the Royal Sisters, Princesses Celestia and Luna, were Gifted themselves, but they were created as a unifying force to prevent a crippling civil war that would have utterly destroyed the pony race.
Anypony holding the power of the Gift was highly revered in society, almost to the point of being deified. Those with temporal power were oracles, and they predicted, quite accurately, the times ahead. They predicted the good harvest seasons, and warned of possible famine. Those with the Gift of intelligence were leaders of tribes, with carvings depicting them as rulers of entire ancient empires. Though they weren’t the longest lived, (They had the shortest lifespans of any Gifted pony), the intelligent ones still moved the world. Some of the greatest poets and writers of the era had the Gift. Those with the Gift of life were not as intelligent as those with the Gift of knowledge, nor did they have any special powers like those with the Gift of time. They just had a longer life, and they never became rulers. They were mostly peaceful farmers, becoming esteemed historians later on simply due to their age and remembrance of the era in question.
“Alright, so this dusty, old book actually proved to be of some use!” I found myself thinking out loud yet again, receiving an odd stare from the other ponies in the library. This report is going to be a really fun project…
After I wrote down some notes on this Gift thing, I went up to the counter to ask the clerk if she had any more information on the Gift. Needless to say, she shot me down immediately. Looks like nopony in Manehattan knows about it, though it’s a predominantly Earth pony town. Surely at least one of the inhabitants is a descendant of one of them! I might just be down on my luck right now, but I figured that a trip to the rural town of Ponyville, which is relatively close by, wouldn’t hurt.
So after asking my parents for some bits so I can take a train to the village station, I thought about what I was researching on the way. I also figured the trip might take a little while, so I could look over the couple books I still have on the subject to see if I could find a little bit of extra info. Why was I even doing this? I thought, before remembering that Manehattan was a predominantly Earth pony city and the history of my lineage was apparently so important.
Let me just get it set in stone now that this has been one of the most repetitive journeys I’ve ever been on. First, I went to the library at school and found next to nothing. Then, I went to the Manehattan library and found the same. After that, I headed home to check if my family had anything… Bet you can’t guess what I found. If you said nothing, you win. Congratulations.
Back to reality now. I arrived at Ponyville Station and asked one of the locals the way to the Golden Oaks Library, then followed where they said to go. Not long after I set out, I got hungry and went to the open marketplace to see if I could find some sort of sustenance.
“Hello there, would you like to buy anything? If you can’t tell by the stand, I’m selling apples and apple products. Wait… You’re not from here, are you? I’m Apple Bloom! Welcome to Ponyville!” She seemed pretty excited that there was a new customer around.
“Yeah, I’m here because I heard that there might be an avid historian living at the library that could help me with this project for my school. I’ll take a couple apples, please,” I replied quickly because that pony made me a little bit nervous. I know us Earth ponies are supposed to be powerful and all, but she looked a little too strong for the average pony of the race.
“Sure, that’ll be,” She paused for a moment to remember the price, “three bits. Have a nice day!” she said as I handed the money over and took my food.
After that small snack, I headed back onto my earlier route. Turns out the library wasn’t just a normal building. It was a tree. A hollowed-out tree. Shaking my head to get rid of my shocked expression, I headed into the building. (Can I call it that if it’s literally inside a living organism?) From what I’ve heard, the bookkeeper was purple, with a darker purple mane, simply styled, that had a pinkish streak. Not seeing the pony in question, I wandered around the lobby hoping to see something on the shelves that could be of use.
Well, that poker face didn’t last long. The librarian’s supposed assistant, which looked more like a pet to me, was a dragon. How it didn’t constantly burn down the place, I didn’t know. I asked it if it knew the locations of any books on the Gift, and was turned down. He said that some Twilight pony would be back soon, so I should just wait around until she comes back.
While I waited, I figured I could take a short walk around the town to see if anything interesting would happen. Aside from the usual “Oh look, an outsider! Welcome!” greeting everypony seems to get in a new town, nothing much happened. I did meet some very interesting ponies though. Heading back towards the marketplace for some unknown reason, I started thinking about what I could have gotten done if I hadn’t come here. The sheer fact that I’d be finding records in a village practically completely run by my race that seems to not have been touched by time worked.
Skip forward an hour, I talked to the librarian and she gave me a couple books on the subject. I jotted down the notes I’d need and started to go back home. Ponyville was a pretty nice place to go if I wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, it seems. When I got home, I finished my essay and started up my video games with the intention of playing all night long.
*****A Week Later...***** I got my essay back and received a B+ on it! Not what I was expecting because I thought I did a really horrible job, but still. Maybe the research was worth it after all. I guess taking some time out of your day to learn things can actually be beneficial as opposed to staying in and playing video games all day is nothing but detrimental to a pony’s health. I figure getting out more couldn’t hurt, so my parents shouldn’t count on me being home all the time; in fact, I’d probably be out with friends or visiting other areas of the country a lot of the time.
The GiftChapter 1: DiscoveryBy The Accursed One
Looking back to my days in high school, I wonder why I chose to do my essay on that Gift thing instead of something more… normal, like the history of the tribe during Pre-Equestrian times. It made the essay much harder because of the very low amount of information on the topic, essentially fucking me over in the end. It was worth it, though, learning about the Gift. I may have found out more about myself than I realized at the time…
So I’ve graduated college with average grades and haven’t really done much of note since then. I don’t have a job yet, but hopefully I’ll find one soon. That is, if…
A long time later…
… I can finally get over this problem I’ve been having. I seem to be… teleporting… a lot. I never know where, or when, but it happens.
“When am I now?” I deadpanned, looking around where I appeared. My home was in ruins, and nopony was around. In fact, the whole city of Manehattan seemed to be deserted!
Running around the deserted streets, a yellowed scrap of newspaper blew past my hooves with the warm winds of the city. I grabbed and read the date on it: June 1st, 2215. Since the ink was also starting to fade away, I estimated it to be at least three years old. Remarking that this was the farthest confirmed time in the future I’ve ever traveled. Since my efforts to find somepony were all but successful, I instead focused my efforts to get to Canterlot and back home, if I can call it that, before I went back to my time. I know the capitol keeps impeccable records of history, so I started running towards the defunct train station. Since technology evolves over time, I knew that by now the trains, if they can still run, would be pretty fast and I could arrive at my destination in a matter of minutes as opposed to the hours it would take in my time. To my disdain, the train neither worked nor was on the track. I guess I’d have to hoof it.
I made it to Canterlot, luckily, but I noticed all too late that the castle was crumbling, almost destroyed. Wellp, I guess finding out anything about this time is gonna be hard. Oh, wait, here comes some nau…
A long time ago…
...sea. Arriving in what seemed like the middle of nowhere in what I hoped to be present-day Equestria, I was quick to empty the contents of my stomach on the ground. This jump had taken a huge toll on me, and I hoped future ones wouldn’t be as harsh. The next jump shouldn’t be coming within the next couple days since they’re always around a week apart, so some information on the problem can hopefully be gathered by then.
Heading back to Ponyville to see some of my old friends, I decided to ask around about time travel. I doubted anypony would suggest anything but “Ask Twilight” or “Why not try to go to the Royal Library?”; needless to say, I was taken by surprise when Pumpkin Cake actually told me to find some of the older Earth pony settlements. She knew what she was doing when it came to history, so I just did what she told me. Days of exploration in the desert later, I arrived at an oasis-looking area with some ruined buildings. I wondered why the Earth ponies of long ago built their homes in this area, but then remembered it wasn’t as arid in this area at the time. The oasis was at least larger ten thousand years ago. Suddenly, I felt a tugging sensation, like my soul was being pulled into the ground. I had no way to resist this because the mysterious force bound my hooves to the ground they were on. For some reason, my mind and body jumped to the time of the ancient tribes, in the largest Earth pony settlement at the time. Though their language was vastly different than modern Equestrian, I could still understand a little bit of it. I wondered why the city was so underpopulated, but somepony told me that they were in the middle of a war with another nation. I was called by the leader of the tribe, who somehow knew my name. He said he’s been watching me my whole life. He says I’m the last known pony with the Gift, so passing it down through ancestry is important. Come to think of it, I /have/ seen some random pony appear in a flash of light in my peripheral vision, giving me lifesaving advice. Once I master the Gift, though, I’m going to be on my own, he told me. Following the chief of the tribe, I came to a dungeon with a barred door. The chief demonstrated what I needed to do, then told me to try it. Concentrating all my willpower into trying to go to the future like he said, I released the concentrated will and… nothing. I was absolutely exhausted, and made no progress. “Why isn’t this working?” I asked the leader. “I did exactly what you said, and nothing happened!” “Be patient, my apprentice. Forcing your willpower into time travel takes days of practice at least, years at most. Most ponies that have found their way to this time for training through the Gift could timewalk in around two to three weeks of constant practice,” the chief of the Earth pony tribe responded. “Let’s wait for you to recover before we try again.” My ears perked up at hearing that news, then I collapsed from sheer exhaustion. Waking up hours later, I felt refreshed and saw my master laying down in the grass, reading a book. I told him I was ready to try time travel again, and we both got up. “All right, time to try this again. I got this,” I said, completely determined. This time, I’ll travel through time!