In the Eyes of an Immortal

by Starflower the Kind

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark
Length: 1302

Starflower muses on what it means to be an Immortal, while events in Equestria kinda fall down around her. Who is this mysterious mare and how does she seem to know everything and yet nothing, all at the same time?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2015-03-27 22:56:33 UTC

Musings of an Immortal, yet... Not.

You look out over the darkened sky as the moon begins its ascent, and you stare at the moon thoughtfully. Even after so long in this world, you find it hard to wrap your mind around the fact that there is indeed, a pony trapped in that moon. Not just any pony, either, but a princess, an alicorn, a... well, celestial body. From all that Celestia has tried to explain, the most you can comprehend is that somehow the two princesses are the sun and the moon, and yet, they are still just... ponies. Well, not just ponies; Alicorns, specifically -holding magics of all three kinds of ponies in their bodies, but still. Just ponies.

Its times like these in your musings that you forget that you yourself are a pony. A strange amalgamation of Soul and Stars and Pony, yes, but still a pony when all is said and done. Celestia herself can't even tell that you hadn't been born a pony, and neither had Luna in her time. You blink at the strange turn your thoughts have taken, but can't bring yourself to regret the strangeness of your own mind. The strange and yet seemingly perfect existence you have found yourself in has long sunken into and been accepted, if not understood, by your mind.

"Staring at the moon again, Starflower?" The voice is soft and sweet, and you recognize it instantly. You turn to greet Celestia -boring old titles have long ceased to matter between the two of you- with a small dip of your head in respect -it is only proper, for she IS a princess, after all.

You don't say anything at first, just looking at Celestia. You like to think that your face is impassive, after many long years of perfecting that particular mask, you know that you can fool most ponies, at least. But not Celestia, for she seems to see something in your expression, and her gaze softens, if that's possible, and her eyes turn sad, though you are sure you are the only pony who could see it -save perhaps that student Celestia had picked up recently.

She walks over to you slowly, her hoofbeats clopping clearly on the marble floors of the balcony. She looks up at the moon herself, and you see the familiar shadow fall over her countenance. "She'll be back, Starflower... Maybe this time the Elements will choose somepony who can do more for her than I could," she says softly, and you just extend one of your wings to rest softly on her shoulder. It wasn't a gesture of pity or misplaced "understanding", but a simple acknowledgement of her words and perhaps a reassurance that she was not alone.

"You know I can't reveal too much, Celestia," you eventually say, returning your gaze to the night sky. "But rest assured, your hopes are not for naught."

Celestia's head turns toward you sharply, a small, surprised gasp leaving her. You don't generally talk about your past, so its not really surprising that Celestia is so shocked. As you stare at the sky, you are reminded of ages long ago, and yet far into the future, indeed on another plane of existence altogether.

Celestia shakes her head when you say nothing more, despite her almost expectant gaze. "I'll never understand you, Starflower."

You give a small smile at that. "I'll never understand me, either, Celestia, so don't think too much upon it." You take one last look up at the night sky and upon the Moon Goddess that sleeps on the starry blanket, before you turn from the balcony and walk into the chambers Celestia had graciously allowed you in her palace. It's a bit materialistic for your tastes, but beggars can't be choosers, and to complain would certainly be ungrateful.

Celestia leaves the rooms after some polite 'goodnights', and you are left to yourself and your musings once more. It's strange, you reflect, being immortal in a mortal world. Being unchanging in a constant motion of the world around you. Perhaps Discord had a point to his chaos, you muse, though certainly your boredom is not worth disrupting the lives of the ponies of Equestria, no matter how tempting it might be. These thoughts eventually fade as your eyes fall shut and your soul leaves the land of the living to enter the land of dreams.

Souls and Stars and Ponies

You grin down at a diminutive -at least from your perspective- Luna, and nuzzle her softly. "It's good to have you back, Luna," you whisper in her ear before backing away at the strange looks you are getting from the six ponies behind Celestia.

"Uh.... who is that pegasus?" a loud whisper is directed at Celestia's student -Dusk Shadow? No that wasn't it. Dusk... Sparkle? Almost right, you were sure. No, Twilight! Twilight Sparkle! It had been too long and yet was happening right now in front of you, you remember. Yet... it hadn't happened like this, nor from this perspective. You shake your head at the circular thoughts -it was no point trying to analyze the situation; there was a major event happening RIGHT NOW, and a dear friend to console, from the broken expression on Luna's countenance was anything to go by.

You completely missed any response Twilight Sparkle made to the question in your musings, but Celestia had stepped forward in any case. "This is Starflower, my little ponies. She is a... friend of mine and Luna's, from ages long past." Celestia glances at you and pauses, as if expecting you to say something. What would you say? That somehow you had come from the future and thrown into the past in a body you don't recognize, only to realize that you were immortal in every sense of the word and knew things you weren't suppose to, yet forbidden by your very essence to say a thing about these events? Yeah, that would go over well.

Luckily, you didn't have to say anything, as one of the ponies spoke up in disbelief. Celestia's student. "B-but... Princess... She's a pegasus. How could she possibly live that long?"

That was when you decide to intervene. "Pegasus I may appear to be, but it does not define all that I am, Student Twilight Sparkle. I am more than just pony, you see. I am made also from the Soul and the Stars in the sky, something remembered from days past, yet living in a future not yet happened. I am an observer, above all. I see what is to come for Equestria, and can be asked many questions about wisdom, and yes, perhaps friendship, but I do not intervene with one's own choices. I am here... yet, you must treat me like nothing more than dust on the wind for I cannot give you what I do not have." You fall silent, thinking that perhaps you had revealed too much, yet... it was nothing more than what the Princesses knew, and these ponies were the Elements of Harmony ponified. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing that they knew of your existence.

You turn away, your body clearly see-through as you move. You've used too much energy in that speech, given too much away for the fates to be happy with you. But you know it needed to be said, for even Celestia never truly understood why you chose to say nothing though you clearly knew more than you let on -though Celestia of all ponies understood more than most, in her own semi-omniscience. And you know that your determination will only be further tested by the events that would soon fall upon the land. You only hoped you would be strong enough to resist the temptation to tell all.