The Gift

by The Accursed One

Chapter 1: Discovery

The Gift

Chapter 1: Discovery

By 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!

Author's Note:

Thanks to M E Lovecolt for prereading and editing and stuff.
Fun fact, this is the longest second chapter of anything that I've ever written.