The Treasure Trove of One-Shots and Story Prompts

by MrPengu1n

Deathless - [slice of life]

Author's Note:

Twilight is an alicorn, now, and that makes her special. While Princess Celestia has made it clear that Twilight's new stature will not grant her immortality, and that she will age just like any other pony, being such a highly ranking magician gives her special perks, like a seat on the Council of Immortals.
Sounds like a good deal; every month she gets to learn new things from the oldest and most powerful beings in Equestria, but there is one, small...responsibility.
She's become the legal ward of a hot-headed immortal with a death wish.

Princess Celestia threw the grand doors wide open, and Twilight stepped into the majestic hall for the first time. She had never been inside the royal courtroom before, and was relishing the new experience. The first thing she noticed was how empty it was. Granted, she didn't expect there to be many immortals in Equestria, but the sheer amount of empty seats was staggering. She surveyed the crowd; counting herself and Princess Celestia, there was Princess Luna and Princess Cadence, no real surprise there. There was Discord, that was somewhat unexpected, but, Twilight thought, since he had reformed, obviously he would be here. He was an immortal, after all. What was really surprising was the fact that he was having a lively conversation with Queen Chrysalis. The princess had informed her that these Council meetings were times of truce, and that truce was protected by unbreakable magic, but it was still a bit off-putting to see her in the same place as the princesses and not try to overthrow them. There was another figure standing in the shadows, but Twilight couldn't make out who it was. She squinted, spotting only a pair of green and purple eyes before Celestia had taken her seat as the chairpony of the meeting. She banged a gavel against the table twice for silence, and motioned for everyone to take their seats.

Twilight hopped into a chair alongside the other princesses, and the rest of the immortals settled down. Except for the shadowy figure, who remained standing in the shadows.

"First order of business," Celestia began tersely, "I would like to welcome newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle to the Council of Immortals,"

Twilight was almost embarrassed at her title, and ducked her head as the ponies clapped politely. Except for Discord, of course, who objected, "Oh, come on now; she's not even immortal! I can see her aging," he emphasized.

"She is a Princess, and that earns her a seat on this Council, and you will respect her as an equal member," Princess Luna immediately reprimanded, sending Twilight a reassuring smile.

Twilight smiled back. Discord rolled his eyes, but remained silent. Queen Chrysalis leaned over and whispered something in his ear, and they both shared a chuckle.

"Next order of business," Celestia continued, "Roll call; I am present, Luna is present, Cadence, Twilight, Discord, Chrysalis, and..." she leaned over and looked into the shadowy corner where the figure stood, staring at them with malicious eyes. She nodded in affirmation, "and Sombra is here-"

"What?" Twilight interjected, whipping her head around to look at King Sombra in the shadows. She swore she saw an evil, sharp toothed smile in the darkness.

"While Sombra is imprisoned in the void over the crystal empire," Princess Cadence explained, "He is still an immortal and is present during these meetings. However, since he is not physically here, he must stay in the shadows to sustain his form, and cannot actively participate in the Council proceedings."

"Oh..." Twilight said hesitantly, off-put at how calm everypony was in the midst of such powerful beings, dark and light alike. How strong could this magical truce possibly be?

"Third order of business," Celestia continued, pausing to sigh and close her eyes, as if disappointed by what was next on the list in front of her, "Deathless is in legal trouble again." every creature in the room save Twilight groaned; even Sombra rolled his eyes.

Twilight looked back and forth, "I don't understand," she said quietly.

Princess Celestia looked up at the grand doors on the far side of the courtroom and gestured for somepony to come in. The doors swung open and a pair of royal guards walked in, somepony Twilight had never seen before between them. It was a Pegasus; a stallion. He wore a deep black overcoat, and his hooves were in shackles. He resisted the guards, a look of frustration on his face. His fur was golden, and his mane was long and scarlet. His eyes were blue, and they stared daggers at his captors, who walked forward solemnly and indifferently. They deposited him in front of the Council, unchained his hooves and walked away. He fiddled vainly with his shackles, muttering something to himself as the guards walked away. Twilight thought she heard something along the lines of, "worthless, copy-and-paste piles of fake law."

Twilight was about to ask who that pony was, but the Princess cut her off, reading aloud from a list, voice rising in intensity with each item "Breaking and entering, destruction of property, petty larceny, littering, attempted assault and battery, taking a hostage, attempted suicide?!" Celestia threw her hooves in the air and shook her head in confusion at the pony, "What were you thinking?" she demanded.

The pony set his jaw stubbornly, "I never littered," he argued.

Princess Luna had taken the list and read over it, and now she spoke, "It says here they're trying to charge you with verbal abuse, saying you were quoted as calling the plaintiff a, 'dirty, no good, twisted merchant not worth the two bits he grubbed together in a day'?"

Discord started laughing.

The pony looked her in the eyes innocently, "It's not a lie," he defended.

"Deathless," Princess Celestia reprimanded, "You are an immortal; when will you learn that you have different responsibilities than normal ponies? You cannot keep acting so irresponsible!"

'Deathless' looked very miffed at that statement, and he stated definitively, "I help ponies!"

"Taking the law into your own hands like some sort of wild vigilante is not helping anypony, certainly not yourself," Celestia scolded, leaning her head on her hoof and sighing, "What am I going to do with you?"

"Excuse me," Twilight interrupted, "Who's that?"

Princess Celestia looked at her, realizing she had never introduced the two. She gestured to Deathless and said, "This is Deathless. He's-"

"I can introduce myself, Princess," Deathless interrupted. He turned to Twilight and mockingly gave her a grand bow, "Greetings, Princess Twilight," he said warmly.

Twilight was off-put at his sudden show of respect for her, "Hello," she greeted unsurely.

Deathless stood back up and gave her a brilliant smile, "I'm an Immortal," he explained, "And in the eyes of the law, I'm a troublemaker."

That got a laugh out of Twilight. She smiled and said, "It sure sounds like it,"

Deathless smiled back, "I don't see myself that way, though," he said, "I'm just trying to have a bit of fun with my eternity." He suddenly winked at Twilight, "But you'd be surprised how much fun stuff is illegal."

"That's enough of that," Celestia cut off before Twilight could respond. "The real question here, Deathless, is what am I going to tell the police to keep them from throwing you in jail? Again?" she added.

"Tia, anything you can think of that hasn't failed before, I'm okay with," Deathless said informally.

"That's no way to talk to the princess!" Twilight suddenly reprimanded, "You are to refer to her as Princess Celestia during these formal proceedings!"

Deathless gave her another exaggerated bow, "My sincerest apologizes, your highness," he said insincerely.

Twilight was surprised at his sudden show of respect again, but she recovered faster and nodded, "Don't let it happen again."

Princess Celestia smiled at her, "Thank you, Twilight," she said to her, then turned to Deathless and said, "I've made my decision," she said suddenly.

"Oh, come on!" Discord suddenly interjected, "Why do you even invite us to these things if we don't get a single say in anything?" Chrysalis nodded along with him.

Celestia looked at him, "We are not letting you take him in as your student of chaos, Discord," she established, "The last thing we need is two spirits of disharmony in Equestria." She turned back to Deathless and continued, "No, I've decided to send you away from Canterlot-"

"Like that's worked before," Deathless and Discord muttered in tandem.

"-to live with Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"What?" Deathless and Twilight reacted in tandem.

Celestia nodded, "I'm making you legally responsible for anything Deathless does," she explained, "you will become his legal ward. I have the utmost confidence that you will keep him out of trouble; you've never failed me before."

"That's going to end," Deathless said rather loudly.

"Princess, I can't take care of another pony, much less so an immortal!" Twilight argued.

"You will do fine," Celestia looked her in the eye and smiled, "You're my star pupil."

Deathless rolled his eyes.

Twilight, knowing there was no real way out of it if it was an order from the Princess, nodded slowly, looking at Deathless. He smiled and waved a shackled hoof innocently. This won't end well.

---

The train ride back from Canterlot to Ponyville was awkward. Twilight had chosen the train rather than the royal carriage because she still wasn't comfortable in her new royal stature, and she hadn't chosen to fly because she was still unsure in her newfound abilities. She sat quietly across the train from Deathless, who was entertaining himself by fiddling with the chains in his shackles.

Twilight had finally had enough, and, ignoring Celestia's advice to keep the shackles on him until he was safely in the library, pulled out the key she had been given by the guards and hopped across the train, unlatching the hoofcuffs and freeing him. He rubbed his hooves as if they were sore and looked at Twilight with genuine gratitude. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

Twilight leaned back in her seat, just glad that the infernal clinking of the chains was over. She tried to make small talk, "So...how did you become an immortal?"

Deathless looked at her, "What do you mean?"

"W-well," Twilight started awkwardly, "All the other immortals are, you know, magical creatures; the princesses are alicorns, Discord is a draconequus, and Chrysalis is a changeling queen, but you...you're just a normal Pegasus." And it was true; he didn't have any prominent features other than his wings, in fact he looked quite unremarkable. It was a surprise to think he had committed all the crimes Princess Celestia has listed in the courtroom. Twilight was suddenly aware that she was in the same train car as an immortal criminal.

Deathless smiled and looked out the window, "Well, I'm a different kind of immortal," he said.

"That much is certain," Twilight agreed.

Deathless chuckled, "You said that awful fast," he observed playfully, but continued, "You see...well, it's complicated."

"How complicated?"

Deathless looked at her, still fiddling with his hooves, "Very, complicated."

Twilight sat up in her chair, "I'm clever, and I know a thing or two about magic, so don't patronize me," she said. Celestia had advised her that Deathless respected a stern hoof.

And it seemed to work, Deathless readjusted his seat and began, "I suppose I can best explain it this way: the other immortals can't die, right?"

Twilight nodded, "Right."

"I can," Deathless said.

Twilight's brow furrowed in confusion, "I-I don't understand, you're not immortal?"

"Oh no, I am," Deathless nodded quickly, "But you see, the other immortals can't get hurt. They can't get cut, they can't bleed, they can't get sick, and they can't die. I can do all of those things-I can die-it's just...I don't stay dead."

Twilight still didn't understand, and her face showed it.

"Okay, look," Deathless said, gesturing widely with his hooves, "If you took a sword, right now, and," he knocked on his temple, "thrust it right through my head, I would die."

Twilight looked at him.

"And then," Deathless added, "I would come back."

"Just...come back?"

"Just...come back. I wouldn't stay dead, and that's why I'm a different immortal," Deathless explained.

"How does that work?" Twilight asked, half amazed and half utterly confused.

Deathless held his hooves apart unknowingly, "You tell me."

Twilight thought for a few moments. "...a curse?" she suggested.

Deathless chuckled, "I wish," he said, leaning back and blowing air through his lips "If it were a curse, I would've had Celestia take it away a long, long time ago. And I'm, like, eighty six percent sure she would if she could."

Twilight was slowly starting to understand, "I still don't get it; you can die, you just don't stay dead, and it's not because of magic?"

"You get it perfectly," Deathless corrected.

"Well then," Twilight threw her hooves in the air, "What else could be keeping you alive for so long?"

"I don't know!" Deathless said, throwing his hooves into the air as well, "You're the magic expert here."

Twilight sighed, "How old are you, anyway?"

"I'm actually quite young, compared to the other immortals," Deathless said.

"How old?"

Deathless looked at her, "One hundred and eighty seven."

Twilight just looked at him. "You...look young for your age?" she said.

Deathless started chuckling to himself, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

"Attention, passengers," a voice crackled to life from the intercom above, "Next stop; Ponyville."

"Ponyville," Deathless repeated questioningly. He rubbed his chin with his hoof in an exaggerated fashion, "Well, I don't think I've ever caused trouble there; this should be fun."

"Do I need to put you back in your shackles?"