Power is Knowledge

"That's a load of bull!"

A tan pegasus shouted at a blue unicorn over the notes they read.  They had the bag set off to the side, and the notes strewn all about the room.

"I don't see the problem..." the unicorn replied calmly.

"Are you bucking kidding me right now?!" the pegasus shouted in disbelief. "Other worlds?  Evil beings?  Giant fights?  That never happened!  Why the hell didn't I see it if this was all going on???"

The unicorn rolled her eyes at him. "Not all of us are so privileged as to be a part of the near end of the world.  I mean, c'mon!  You can't be serious when you say you don't understand this!"

"I am completely serious!  Death was never a thing, just a state of being!  When have you and death ever met face-to-face, hm?"

"It may not make that much sense, but we were assigned by the princess herself to try to decode these notes.  Even you would know that!"

"What's the point?" the pegasus asked, laughing at how stupid his friend sounded. "There's no way this actually happened!"

"Well then what do you think happened?"

"I think it was all in her head.  Some stupid story to make her sound better.  Don't you think that might be remotely possible at the very least?"

"It could be possible..."

"Then why do you think she had us decode these?  She probably already had them around and already decoded them, just making us do it so the she has 'professional opinion' on her side!"

The unicorn sighted. "Look, if we decode this first paragraph and it says something about Princess Twilight or other worlds or Death, then we'll just burn 'em so we never have to see 'em again, but if it's about anything else, then we're decoding all thirty-seven pages of this one, as well as Celestia knows how many other papers are in that bag..."

"Fine," the pegasus said, "But if I see the slightest hint that this is just a hoax, I swear to Luna that somepony's gonna pay for it."

They looked over the notes, once twice, three times... they checked and rechecked their work, and they found the first line of the translation.  The papers were incredibly old, yet they retained the glyphs inscribed on them better than any old manuscript.

After several hours of guessing and checking, they assumed the first paragraph said this:

"Nopony knows of the old days, back when things were simple and work was easy.  I knew those days.  I don't know how many ponies would believe a story so strange, but I've seen lots of generations come and go.  I've seen more than anypony could possibly imagine seeing in one lifetime.  And yet, all this is nothing compared to what I am looking at now."

The two looked at their translation.

"No Death..." the pegasus noted.

"No Twilight..." the unicorn added.

"No other side..." they both said.

"Hm..." The pegasus considered the next action to take.  "We must translate the rest of this!  Whatever this thing is that he saw, we need to know what it is!"

"That's the spirit!" the unicorn said, patting her friend on the back.

"Yes, and we must find out if there is Death, the other side, or Twilight in this writing!"

The unicorn did a facehoof, then picked up the sheet and began working on the second paragraph.

***

The average Equestrian has a steady income, one living family member, and at least one friend.  It's no wonder I took interest in the one pony that  stood out in the crowd.  He did not have any of these things, not on this side at the very least.  I don't know if he ever got back to the other side.  Maybe there really wasn't something waiting for him over there.  Maybe he returned to this "world of white" that he wrote about.  It's impossible to know for sure.  all that matters now is his writing he left behind.

I started from the earliest note I could read.  Some of the things he talks about are insane, like dark essences, incomplete spells of reanimation, and all sorts of strange stuff.

Then there's the fact that he writes that truth is evil.  Call me crazy, but I think he's right.  Celestia has probably been lying to me about a lot of things throughout the years to keep me safe.  If the truth is evil, then she wouldn't be able to tell me the truth... or at least not the complete truth at some points in time.  Like when she told me that I was to go to Ponyville just to set up the place for her arrival.  That was a lie.  She intended to have me find friends and to uncover the Elements of Harmony.  There is no way it was just a coincidence that this happened.  Same thing with the Canterlot wedding and the Crystal Empire.  Finding out the truth about Cadence was evil.  Literally.  Sombra's return was most likely predicted, but she never told me this, so that's another example.

I've come to a conclusion.  If you think you're hearing only half-truths coming from your friends, it either they did something bad to you or are trying to keep you from seeing something truly evil.  There is no way the truth can be dealt without some level of evil to it.

However, lying has its limits.  Lying can be just as evil as telling the truth.  That's where I question it.  Where are the boundaries where lying goes from permissible to condemned?  Why does the truth have to be so evil?  Can it be good sometimes?  I don't know, but in these next few weeks I will find out.  Hold on, Celestia's here...

... with a letter from Pinkie Pie.  That's why she was here.  I told her I wanted to return to my friends because there is just so much more about friendship I have yet to learn.  She had allowed for it.  I'm not sure how we'll wipe this terrible memory of Death from our minds, but we'll find a way through.  We always do.  Always.

***

Two years.  that's how long it took me to figure this out.  There's been a mistake... a huge problem that should be assessed.  That is, if I truly know what I'm dealing with here.

I realized what the problem was.  I have to write about it, even though this paper isn't real.  I'm getting to that part now.  This world is paradise.  I think.  It must be!  There's no other way to explain this except... this world is not real!  No world is perfect.  No life is perfect.  This place isn't real.

This place is nothing but my imagination.  The rules of this place, made by me, the time of this world, mine to control.  I don't want to believe it.  I can't.  I don't.

It's crazy!  I'm dead and this afterlife is just my consciousness lost in the entirety of space and time.  It has to be.  I have proof.

I was gone for 3000 years.  I checked my math, and that comes out to 250 years on this side.  Everypony in this world would be dead almost 175 years ago and replaced by another generation, but they haven't aged a single day.  It's not possible.  It just doesn't work.

Yet this world is supposed to make sense.  It has physics and life and ponies.  There were changes and problems, but they were easily taken care of.  This world cannot be.

...

I may be dead, but this world is completely real.  It has to be.  I have proof.

What sick pony thinks that their family is nothing but a figment of his or her imagination?  I'm not going to start thinking everything I've worked towards getting back to was nothing.  It's real.  It exists.

I exist.  My family exists.  I'm not letting this all go.  It can't let it go.

I look into my daughter's eyes and know it's true.  There is no way this world cannot exist.  It must be real.  There's no way it cannot be real.  I won't allow it to be.  She means everything to me.

She has golden eyes and a dark blue mane, just like her mother.  She got my coat color, though: a bright and vibrant orange.  She's just getting old enough for us to tell she has her mother's eyes.  She'll grow up and meet somepony someday and I...

I'll be gone...

Where will I go then?  To the nothingness I avoided for so long?  Perhaps back to the other side, reborn as another pony?  I know not what will become of me now that I question this world's validity.  It is the one thing I didn't find out throughout these years.  What really happens to those I do not save?  I can never be sure.

So instead of focusing on my end or anypony else's, I will focus on the here and now.  My family needs me, and I need them.  I realize that I don't even care anymore.  Even if this world doesn't actually exist, It's real enough for me.  I'm not leaving Second or our daughter.  I cannot tell them, for it would ruin everything... and so, I will burn the notes so they are never seen again.

I am wasting my time writing... I've got a life to live.