Passing the Gift of Immortality

by Magenta Gleam

First published August 10th, 2016 04:40

For millenia certain ponies have been tasked with a singular mission, to record the events of the time. They are the Chroniclers and they carry the gift of immortality. But one ponies mind cannot take the passing of years, so they pass on their gift.

Sunset Shimmer is the next in line and so the first action she must take is to read the final journal entry of her predecessor.

Cover art is Chant of Immortality by DragonwolfRooke

Written for the 13th F*** THIS PROMPT contest.

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Passing the Gift of Immortality

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Journals of the Immortals Volume 12

Entry 2845 - 11th Day of the third month, 1012 AD.

This will be my last entry. The time has come that I must step down to make way for the new generation. As with all those that came before me I was tasked with a single mission. This mission was to chronicle the lives of the ponies around me. As with all those that came before this was a mission given by those that came before and as such I was given a singular gift, the gift of immortality. But it is not one that we are given lightly and one day I will be asked to return it once I have been too far removed from the ponies of the time.

Last night they came to me, Celestia and Luna appeared in my living room with sad looks on their faces. The moment I saw them I knew it was time and they gave me a single gift, an extra day. A day to say goodbye, a day to ready myself for the journey that was to come. But I will not spend it as they wished, I will spend it the way I have lived these past five centuries, chronicling my life and the lives of the ponies around me. Though the last part will undoubtable be forgotten as it has been quite often as late. I find that as time has passed the ponies of Canterlot dislike my presence, perhaps it is because they know I am watching them or perhaps it is because I look no different from the day they first saw me as foals.

I will not weep for the way they look at me for it will only be useless tears and I will not weep for the coming end because I know it will only lead onto a further journey. I do however wish to weep for those that will miss me. My great-great-great-great-great grandfoals who still visit me, the mare who delivers my paper every morning and will always come in to hear tales of times gone by and you, my student, the one who will be given my gift. I know that the trials before you will be tough, you must learn to bear with the burden of years and the events you will undoubtedly live to see. Were this not a necessary part of our lives I would not have given this job to anypony else, but it is needed. As my predecessor Star Swirl the Bearded told me. “Knowledge is the gift we leave to those who come next.” I will always thank him greatly for the honour he bestowed upon me, even if the years were hard. I only hope you will feel the same way.

That is not to say that there have not been any great joys to behold throughout these longs years. I have sat at the forefront of many of the greatest times in pony history. From the signing of the peace treaty between the Minotaurs and Equestria, to the return of Princess Luna and the reformation of Discord. I have seen and chronicled fantastical events that had I not seen them with my own eyes I would barely believe they had ever happened. I was personally witness to the Crystalling of the first naturally born Alicorn in Equus’ history. An honour that I will cherish to the moment my gift is taken away and my body withers.

But do try not cry for me, for this is a journey I am ready to take and have looked forward to for many years. In all my time as Equestria’s Chronicler I have known this day to be coming and have prepared. There are none who live in this world who have seen beyond the veil of death and that will be my next job, to detail the process, to tell the story of what comes after for that is my destiny. Though my soul may pass beyond this world I will never stop telling the stories, I will never stop recording the new ones and I will always welcome the future regardless of where that takes me.

The princesses have worried for me many times as the years have passed. They forget that this was something I volunteered for, just as those who came before me did in turn. Long before mortal recorded history we have been here, long before the princesses ascended we have existed and will exist long after they fall. A long line of immortals stretching into the future and into the past.

So it now falls to you Sunset Shimmer. I have trained you to be ready, you will serve the world well as the new generation of The Chronicler. The lessons you learned from Princess Twilight, Princess Celestia and I will serve you well. Walk the world and write of the years that you live, the ponies you shared them with and the events you see. Share your small stretch of eternity with those around you and never forget your mission. If I ever have the chance to speak to you from the veil beyond I will return and thank you for serving the creatures of this world.

I hope that you shall not weep for me but I do not hold you to it, you have yet to feel the sadness of years or the torturous losses. One day you will begin to feel the tears but never shed them and further along you will no longer feel even that. This is not such a bad thing as emotions can cloud truth, truth that it is your job to pass on to the next in line. One day you will do as I have. You will find a student, one that you can trust to carry the gift of years in your stead just as I have with you. You will gift them with immortality and the knowledge of the past and in that moment you will join me beyond and we will share our stories, as is our mission.

Goodbye and welcome to the future,

The 12th Chronicler.