Power is Knowledge

The mind of Death was not what I expected it to be.  The place was clean, orderly, almost... businesslike, for lack of a better term.  I was standing before a desk, with the pony sitting behind it facing away from me.

"You've caused me a lot of grief, First."

"I know."

"When you cause me grief, you ruin my plans," it continued. "I need my plans.  You see, I'm like a businesscolt, First, and I like my 'business' to run smoothly.  When you go in and start messing everything up... it's hardly tolerable that you should live.  In fact..."

He turned the chair around. I saw his red mane glimmer in the imaginary light in this imaginary world.  He had a dapper suit on, and looked very displeased.  "You're dead to me," he finished.

I saved a remark on that for later.

"Hm.  So what will you do?  Live on as a spirit?  Your body is gone, First.  You have nothing to return to," Death asked me mockingly.

"I have the other side--"

"No, First," Death interrupted, "you don't have that option anymore.  Have you taken a look outside lately?  Here it is summer, and there it's winter there, First.  There's no chance you can return."

I smiled at what he said and burst out laughing.  It was hilarious the ideas he had about the other side.

"Don't you see?" I asked him. "You are the one who allowed me this opportunity to go back!  I really should be thanking you, Death."

"Stop your laughing!" he shouted angrily. "You can't go back and you know it!"

"No, I couldn't go back," I clarified. "Past tense.  But now that you've taken over, well... I'm no longer living."

"Explain," he demanded, and I laughed again.

"Celestia damn, you are funny, Death!  I thought you knew all about yourself, but no!  You haven't the slightest clue!"

"I said explain!" He shouted at me, slamming his hooves on his  imaginary desk. "If you don't, I swear I'll find a way to make sure you never get back to the other side!"

It felt good to laugh in Death's face.  The bastard deserved every second of it.

"Funny enough, Death, your not the only pony who I'm dead to.  I'm dead to the whole plane of existence! I've never felt better about it!"

"Why?  I finally caught up to you after all these years--"

"Yeah, it only took you, what, three thousand years to catch up to me?  Oh, you're soooo scary!" I interrupted.

Death had nothing to say to that.  His imaginary eyebrows lowered on his face, and he began to grit his teeth.

"Don't feel bad!  I mean, you're the only evil that has ever pursued trying to take me down!  The only one!  That's something to commemorate, right?"

"Why do I put up with you?" he asked me. "Why do I even try to talk to you, out of all the things...?"

"'Cause you're Death!  You killed me, and now here I am, stuck in your mind until I choose to leave."

"So what?  You leave and I destroy this world.  You cannot stop me from doing that at the very least."

"Oh, I can't?"

A shot a bolt of mental magic at him.  I would explain how this works, but it's very complicated. The shot missed, passing through the imaginary chair and destroying it.  To anypony who may have been watching, it would look like the chair got atomized.

"You want a fight?  I'll give you a fight." Death said.  He charged up his own magic and shot a bolt at me, which hit me squarely in the face... it dissipated in a magical barrier I had placed around myself.

"Your magic is useless, Death," I told him. "You'll have to fight me like a stallion, not the wuss you really are."

"Hold thy tongue, savage.  You know not of what you dabble in."

His tone inflection had changed, and his words... that was the language of the old days.  Hardly used by anypony but Luna, really.

"So?  The only way I'm going to learn anything here is if you teach it."

"Pitiful creature, you don't understand.  Thou hast only one purpose: to help in the ending of this world.  Fate chose this for thee a long time ago."

"I have my own choices."

"Freedom of choice is a lie, and you know it!" he shouted at me.

"Lie or not, the choice I have made or has been made for me is clear: I am not ending this world.  Destruction will only bring sorrow, loss... I have felt these things and have deemed them unworthy feelings of this world," I countered.

"And what will you do?  Stop me, the greatest power known to this world?  The only power that ponies cannot stop?"

I lowered my head and sighed. "I don't know..."

Death laughed. "Are you so unsure of your power?  Perhaps you should just give up!"

"No.  I'm not sure whether you should live or die, Death.  You are the last form of pure evil, and I should want you dead... but without death, there is only a life of misery.  I've lived for far too long, I actually wished you would take me so I could leave.  But plans are plans, and I must go through with them.  So, Death... that is why I am so unsure."

Death didn't respond.  He waited for me to continue.

"You see, I think you could be a good thing at some point, Death.  You could bring an end to things when and where it is needed.  You can stop things like no other power can, and if you were good, you could kill off all the horrid things in this world.  You could be reformed, like the rest!"

Death stared me in the eyes, thinking about what I said.  Truly, it seemed this was the point he could change.

"Well, you're wrong about one thing, First... I am not pure evil.  I have, in fact, done many good things throughout the years, but I have done  many more evil deeds.  Your logic I cannot argue, but your stance on things... it makes me think."

"Death, you know this isn't right.  Killing ponies at random in such terrible ways...  surely you must know what is so wrong about that."

"You mean what is so right about it," he corrected. "You have seen how the life of ponies slips away from their bodies.  It's a curious thing.  I see it every time and I think: 'how interesting.'"

"Interesting?" The idea of death being intriguing was far beyond any sane thought.

"You have interest in my interests?  With that logic, we could be friends.  However, I don't think you and I would ever get along.  Yes, I have much interest in what becomes of those who die.  I cause their death, then I watch the result.  Where does their soul go?  Why do they resist?  How could one save themselves from it?"

He paced around as he said this, and my eyes followed him.

"And then there was you, First," he said, facing me, pointing his hoof at me and walking forward. "You and your father.  You both helped me find out what happens to those I kill... and I was hungry for more.  More information.  More data.  I was looking for a different result.  A new result.  A better result.  Normal ponies didn't show progress, but you... given the amount of time you've been studying, I've seen many different outcomes for when you 'die'.  You could go to paradise... or you could go to nothing.  You could come back to life... or you could save others from death.  You've shown me more options for after-death situations, it's almost ridiculous."

"So then why do you do this?  Why the annihilation of ponykind?" I asked him.  "There's no point to it anymore!  The only thing you need is me!"

"Precisely, but you don't want to stay.  You won't necessarily leave, but you won't stay.  You plan to go back to the other side, but only when you are sure nothing bad will happen on this side because of your return.  Why do you care?  What have these ponies ever done for you?"

"They saved my li--"

"No, First, they never saved you.  You went to the other side, if I remember correctly.  Why would you want to leave?"

"Don't think I didn't realize you'd be causing destruction while I was gone." I said

"Destruction?" Death laughed. "For whatever reason would I want that?"

"To kill, obviously!  What other reason would you have, Death?  It's in your name!" I shouted at him.

"True, true... but you are still wrong," Death said with a threatening tone. "I need you to stay in this world to continue my research.  You cannot leave."

"Is that why you destroyed my body?  So I can leave?"

"No... so that you couldn't go back."

"But I could honestly return to the other side right now."

"What?!" Death's pupils dilated down to almost nothing.

"You made a fatal mistake, Death," I said, refraining from laughing at the unintentional pun, "and now you will pay for it.  I'm not staying here, and you will not stay here either."

"What will you do?  Bring me to the other side?  You know that's suicide for yourself as well as everybody you know!"

"I never said we were going to the same place." I said, watching his face curl in confusion.

He kept this look for a second longer.  Then, his eyes opened wide in surprise.  "You wouldn't..."

"Oh, but I would."

"I'm not going back!  Y-y-you can't make me!" Death yelled at me, clearly scared.

"You came from there, and you are going back.  My father dragged you from there on accident, and now I will be throwing you back in whether you like it or not."

He panicked.  A black stone knife appeared next to him and he took it in his hoof.

"I'm not going down without a fight!  Magic or not, you cannot make me go there!  Not while I still have a chance to survive!"

"So be it."

I walked up to him and he lashed out.  His knife was easily blocked by my magic, but I didn't take it from him.  He needed one little bit of hope to keep him going.  Not that I was about to crush that hope in a few seconds or anything.

"Give it up, Death!  Your efforts are in vain!" I shouted at him.  A portal to a dark world opened up, with large waves or dark energy stretching out of it.

"You can't do this!  I am Death!  I am the one and only thing that will prevail in this world!" he was screaming, but he was being pushed back into the dark world he came from.  My father released him... but now I would set things straight.

"You tried, Death.  You did your best, but your best wasn't good enough.  Good bye, Death...  Forever."

He was right next to the portal.  One good shove would throw him over the edge. "First!  Don't you dare do this to me!  You know I can change, yes?  Give a chance!  First?  FIRST!!!"

I watched him as I pushed him through the portal and closed it.  The black stone knife he held lay on the ground.

I stared at it for a second and picked it up.  This thing... although only a figment of my imagination now, it still was here.  And there was only one thing left to do with it.

*** 30 Minutes Before... ***

"Keep him away from the town!  We can't let anypony get hurt!"

Dash shouted out to her friends as they kept the rampaging dragon busy in the forest.  The thing constantly kept trying to go back to the town, but it was held back by magic and was beat back by Rainbow.  Fluttershy kept trying to calm the beast.

"It's okay, Mr. Dragon... there are plenty of other things to eat!  Like delicious vegetables!"

The dragon ignored every one of them, constantly trying to get back to the town, no matter the cost.  When it realized that returning was impossible with the nuisances running about, it finally turned to the two unicorns on the ground and shot a burst of fire at them.  They teleported out of the blast, letting it hit the nearby trees.  They started on fire, and it soon spread to the rest of the forest.  Many of the animals living in the Everfree fled for their lives.  Fluttershy noticed them and began to fly the smaller animals away from the dragon.

The dragon roared as it breathed a cone of flame at the flying rainbow pegasus that annoyed it.  Its shots were far too close, but also never close enough to do any harm.  The two earth ponies did what they could to stop the fire, smothering the newest flames with their hooves.  Their efforts were hardly enough to stop the all-consuming flame.

"Alright, we've got his attention!  What now?" Rainbow shouted to her friends on the ground.

"Bring him to the lake!  He can't set fire to anything there!" Twilight shouted back.

The dragon followed the ponies to the lake, flying and burning all that was below it.  The forest was gone.  There was nothing left but ash.  When it reached the lake, it roared at the cold waters it landed in.  However, it was not the only giant beast there.

A hydra came up from the waters, angry at what the dragon had done.  It destroyed the one source of food it had: the forest, where all the creatures were.  Its four heads roared at the dragon, and the dragon roared back.

The ponies simply watched.  One invincible beast against another... it would be a huge battle.  Now all they had to do was stay out of the way.

The hydra lunged with each head, snapping at the dragon.  The beast dodged three of the heads and caught the fourth one, ripping it off.  The hydra was unfazed and had two more heads grow from the spot where the fourth was lost.  The dragon spewed fire, but the hydra shot water in its face, dousing the flames and silencing the beast.

The dragon was not happy about this turn of events.  The hydra bit the dragon in the shoulder, and crimson liquid ran down from the wound.  The dragon screeched and ripped that head off.  The mouth of the head released its grip, but the hydra grew back two more heads, just as before.  At this point, it realized that the heads weren't weak points.

It swung its spiked tail at the hydra, hitting it in the side.  The hydra screeched, and all of its heads bit into the dragon.  The dragon screeched and took to the air, the heads not letting go.  The entire body of the hydra was brought up with it.  The dragon flew higher and higher, up past the clouds.

The six ponies waited a few minutes and became relieved that the dragon wasn't coming back.  They were wrong to do so.

After an unseen fight in the air, the dragon came speeding down from the sky, smashing the hydra's body into the ground, crushing it.  The beast wailed for a few seconds, having muscle spasms, then died.  The dragon looked at the defeated monster and smiled.  It roared a challenge out to anything or anypony else who decided to mess with it.

The six stood in shock of what they saw.

"Please don't tell me that just happened," Rainbow told them.

"It did," Pinkie replied with a squeak.  Even she was scared of the violent dragon.  Nopony dared go near it.

That's when they saw the dragon start roaring for a different reason.  Pain.  It held its claws over its head, shaking it side to side, as if it had a voice in its head it could not get rid of.

"That would be First doing that," Twilight explained.

The dragon's eyes dilated as it shrunk down to the size of a pony, the entirety of it being sucked into a small portal.  One second the dragon was there, the next it was gone.  The portal remained.

Twilight!  Can you still hear me?

"First?"

I've trapped that beast away.  For now.  You need to seal the portal so it cannot reopen!  You have the Representatives of Harmony with you, yes?

"Yes!  Yes, they are here!"

Then seal the portal with the Magic of Friendship!  Even Death cannot defy that!

"But how?"

You'll need to channel the magic with a spell... I don't know what rhyme would shut the portal, but I'm sure you can think of something!  You finished my father's work by creating a new spell, so you can do it again!

"All right.  Everypony center around me!" Twilight instructed her friends.  The Elements appeared around their necks and began to glow.  Twilight's crown appeared and she cast her spell.

"Death be foul, Death be fair,

Death be trapped inside its lair,

Should it try to return, then without a doubt

This portal will seal shut and keep it out!"

They saw the portal close and two red eyes stare out at them as it closed saying one last verse:

"To trap Death away is such a shame

even when your life I could claim

as you sit on your puny throne

and I crush and snap your every bone

So listen hard and listen well, princess, for this is the last you'll hear from me

You can't stop Death -- nopony can! -- and it will be coming for thee."

The portal closed and the voice was silent.

I think Death just cursed you, Twilight.

"More like it cursed at me.  It's not coming back, right First?"

It won't.  Not in your lifetime.

"So then it will at some point?"

...

"First?"

You need not worry about that.  I have to go now Twilight.

"Very well.  I'll see you in the afterlife, First."

And then he was gone.

***

I opened my eyes to a light that blinded me and squinted against it as my vision cleared.  A frozen river, reflecting the sunlight ever so perfectly right into my eyes.  I noticed the sun was high in the sky.  Second wouldn't even know I was here.  Extreme senses and tracking couldn't know the time of Death's encasement in the Shadow Realm.  That was the one name I had for it, as nothing else seemed suitable.

I forgot about that place, and vowed to continue doing so, as something else caught my attention.  Something that was soft and cuddling up to me.

"Hello again, Second," I greeted her.  Somehow she had found me... perhaps by pure chance.

"Long time no see, First.  What are you doing here?  I thought visitation hours were closed."

I chuckled at the joke. "That's because I'm here to stay, Second."

She looked up at me with a light in her eyes as I said this. "You mean it this time?"

"I mean it," I replied, smiling and giving her a little nuzzle.  She blushed a little. She brought her lips up to mine.

Everything was perfect.  The sun in the sky, the moment of the kiss, and the feeling that I had finally done my part for the other side.  Two pure, cleansed souls sitting next to each other, that's what we were.  It had been so long... years and years and...

Something in the back of my head screamed something wasn't right, but I didn't know what.  I suppressed the thought as best I could.

I did not stop the moment.  I couldn't.  I wanted it to last forever.

Ironically, this is where my story ends.  As I curl up next to the angel next to me, I know I am done... There's nothing left to write.  No need.  Everything anypony will need to know now is already known.

The truth was evil, then lies are happiness, friendship, and all other things deemed good.  If I've been living a lie, I couldn't be happier.

I make my final writing here, never to be read by anypony...

***

First is gone.  He disappeared with a dark being sent to some other dimension.  I don't know if he was trapped there with it or if he got back to the "other side".  I read all his notes when I got home... the ones I could translate, that is.  Throughout the years, he wrote in different languages.  Only his more recent notes I can completely understand.  His previous notes questioned his immortality and his first trips over to the "other side", which he deemed was another dimension.

His writing goes back the Second Chance a few times, and I don't blame him for it.  I think it would be hard to forget the one you love.

He goes so far as to explain death and evil in his writing, but it's all so strange.  Truth is evil, free will is a lie, and I believe every word of it.  It'd go against every sense of information gathering I have, trusting what is written in a book by somepony I hardly know.  Out of the things I did know about him, I knew he was a genius.  HIs magic is thoroughly explained in his writing, which I found incredibly useful.  However, they could still use a little revision.  This magic is still very primitive, still very raw magic instead of refined.  So, I'll be working on it for a while and try to fix it up... by copying his every note on it and making corrections to the spell weaving he has done.

Back to the real world for a few seconds.  The damage done to the town was minimal, but the destruction of animal habitat in the Everfree has caused many of the animals to leave the place.  The hydra was one of five in this world, and it was a shame it had to go.  It never hurt anypony, but it sure did give my friends and I a scare this one time.  It was territorial, so you can't blame it for its behavior.

I had not expected Sombra and Chrysalis's appearance in Ponyville, nor can I explain it.  They came here to stop the beast, yes, but why?  What would they gain from something like that?  Sombra had nothing to gain from it, and Chrysalis didn't have any reason either... but Discord said they were reformed.  When I think about it, neither one of them has caused any problems in Equestria, so maybe he was right.  I can't believe I'm putting faith in Discord.

And then there's Celestia, the one most worried about what happened here.  When she heard about how Death targeted me first, she quickly had  the royal chariot bring me back to Canterlot for this reason and for my duties as a Princess.  I had almost forgotten what I was during the whole battle.  I have no idea how I'm going to get used to these wings or this title, or this place...

Oh, I forgot!  I got the notes from Celestia!  I asked her how she got her hooves on them, but she simply said, "It will all be explained with time." in her mysterious tone.  Even now I don't get to know her secrets!  Me, an alicorn princess!  I guess nopony will ever figure her out... but maybe First did?

He actually has writings about Celestia in his notes.  The oldest ones are in ancient Hieroglyphs from the early years of the Enlightenment Era, and only a few ponies can translate those.  Anything before then is completely foreign.

That can wait.  I mean, Equestria just averted another crisis.  Some ponies are still panicking, but most of them are relieved to here that another evil being was sealed away.

Speaking of which, I wonder what happened to that beast...

Well, it can't be anything relevant now.  What's done is done.

I have to stop writing here.  Celestia's calling me for something.

***

Death sat in the middle of the dark world and waited.  It waited patiently for its spell to take effect, whether it's days, weeks, months, years, even millennia... Death did not care.  It waited and waited... and the second that portal opened, it was getting out of here.

Its brethren surrounded Death and it smiled.  They had done so well in this pocket world, trained to be the best they could be... all three of them.

"One day, we will leave this place and bring the end of the world with us.  Only us four -- Pestilence, Famine, War, and finally I, Death -- will finally end these pitiful creature's lives."

And they waited ever so patiently for the portal to reopen... so that one day, they might have revenge.