Power is Knowledge

I'm trying to forget the party from last night, but something keeps bringing me back to it.  I don't understand what.  Maybe it's the death.

Okay, nopony died, but that doesn't mean death doesn't relate to this.  My power is based off of it, after all.  Thus, I've come to a conclusion.  A very sad conclusion, at that.  Pinkie's father is dead.

He's been dead for a long while.  I must've reminded her of him somehow, and that triggered memories of his death.  That's how I knew her name.

I knew it because when she saw me, she saw her father.  For a moment, a very brief moment, I knew what he had known.  I also suspect that he wasn't the nicest father, as my rage was not my own.  I must've experienced his thoughts towards her.  What I said there was from his mind, not my own, and I cannot take responsibility for it.

Not that I won't have to.  Everypony there believes that I was the one who meant to say those words, that I actually meant to feel that emotion.  That's why I felt so out of control: because I really wasn't in control.

But that isn't all that happened.

Last night I had a dream.  Not a nightmare, a dream.  I dreamt I was a rock farmer, and that I was tending to the farm.  I have to say, it was really strange.  First, I had no idea rock farm existed, but now I know.  Second, I lived in the place.  I saw a filly with a long, straight, faded pink mane that hung towards the ground.  It was quite depressing, really.

"I moved the rocks from the North to the West side, father." she said.

"Good.  Now, we need the rocks in the South fields moved to the East fields.  Do you think you can handle that?" I asked her.

"Yes, father."

She walked off to do her work.  The poor family lived like this every day, moving rocks from one place to another. But today was no normal day. Suddenly, a giant blast of sound resonated through the sky, and I turned around.  I saw nothing in the sky, but it sounded like it came from the East fields.  I worried and began to run towards the fields. I looked all around, but the filly was nowhere to be seen. Hopefully nothing bad happened to her, and perhaps she was still in the southern fields. I checked there as well, but my daughter was nowhere to be found.

I told my wife about the situation. She became worried too, and gathered the other children to make sure nothing had happened to them.  We were just about to search for her when they heard a strange noise coming from the silo.  Music.  I looked over at it to see what was going on.  I saw the same little filly with a curly, pink mane pop out of a doorway nearby.

"C'mon, you guys! You have to see this!"

I walked forward in my dream. I opened the door, and suddenly...

The light.  I saw the light.  I was forced to walk towards it.

I assume that was the memory of Pinkie's father, but the light would mean... I doubt he died right then and there.

But if not, then why was there the light? And why then? I guess dreams are just weird like that.

I need to know the truth behind it all.  Every time, the light appears.  Every nightmare, every dream, every time I have to wake up.  Why?

I don't know, and I intend to find out.  Oh, but I forgot the most important part!  It was--

***

Went on a little excursion today to solve that problem from yesterday.  Found that pony, Double Take.  He was alone, writin' something or other.  When he wasn't lookin' I apple-bucked his head.  Went out like a light.  I snuck him away from town and into the Everfree Forest.  Didn't go too far in, just far enough for him to be in some serious trouble when he wakes up... if he wakes up.  He got what was comin' to him if you ask me.

Oh, I heard Twi wanted some of his notes and somesuch, so I snatched away with some of those, too.  I think she'll be happy to see those notes after all this time spent tryin' to get them from him.

***

I find myself in a peculiar predicament.  I seem to be somewhere outside of town, in a forest of some sort.  I heard about this place, but I never have seen it with my own two eyes.  They fear this place, but... it is truly nature at its finest.  Everything has been left alone, giving it both the time and the resources to thrive without any help at all.  They fear it because of the monsters they say, and that is the only thing that worries me.  Will I run into some of these frightening beasts?  If so, I hope I can escape them, and that I don't drop these notes.

Wait... my notes... the bag...

Oh dear...

***

Applejack burst into the library today.  (Side note:  Why is it that people can't calmly enter my house? Rainbow Dash flies in through my window and knocks things down, Applejack barges in through the doorway, Pinkie shouts every time she enters... Something to think about next time I write.)  She said she had the notes from Double Take with her. I was incredibly happy to hear that, and asked her how she got to be friends with him so quickly.

She gave me this look like she had no idea what I was talking about.

"You didn't know that was the plan, did you?" I asked her.

"You actually wanted to be friends with a jerk like him?  After the way he treated Pinkie the other day?"

She was right, what he said was outright rude and impolite, but... we kind of sprung the party up on him.  Some ponies don't like surprises like that.  Moreover, Pinkie can be a little excitable.  Adding onto that, what he said couldn't have been his own words.  Nopony really knew Pinkie's full name until now, so how did he figure it out so quickly?  These things I have to know, and just because he was rude just... two, maybe three times doesn't mean he shouldn't be treated any lesser than a regular pony.  He could just be having a problem he's keeping away from us, or some underlying cause of his uncontrollable nature.

I told this to Applejack, but she wasn't convinced.

"Twi, you're letting him off easy. He wasn't nice at the party, and he's never been nice to anypony!"

I told her about his stay at Rarity's and how polite he was then.

"Well, whatever feelings he's got for Rarity he better keep to himself!  That pony doesn't belong!  He's just cruel, and I won't be havin' none of that 'round these parts!"

I noticed she sidetracked me from the beginning, so I asked a different question to her.

"How did you get the notes, then, if you weren't being friendly?"

She looked away from me, saying nothing.

"Applejack? What did you do to him to make him give you these notes?"

She continued to stay quiet about it.

"Silence is just another form of lying, Applejack. You're the representative of Honesty, so be honest with me! What did you do--?"

"I kicked him, okay?! Right in his... stupid little head!  I brought him out to the middle of the forest and left him there!  I took his notes after that!"

She continued to look away from me.  Psychology rule number one: if they are looking away, they are most likely lying or not giving the whole truth.

"And?" I asked.

"I may or may not have left some stuff nearby him to attract timber-wolves..."

I was shocked.  My own friend, doing this to somepony?

"Applejack! We were supposed to get this peacefully!  Now who knows if we'll ever get him to cooperate at all with what you've done!"

"I know it was wrong!  It's just the way he treated Pinkie--"

"-- was not as bad as the way you treated him today!  Applejack, you are going with me to the forest, and you are bringing him back and apologizing for the mess you've made of things!"

She looked me straight in the eyes.  "Twi, even though I did him wrong, he did us wrong more times than that.  I'm tellin' ya now: don't you even think of bringing him back to break more ponies' hearts."

"Fine then.  Don't come with me.  I'll find him myself and then we'll have a discussion about this later.  Right now, he could be fearing for his life out there, and I've no time to sit around.  Good-bye, Applejack."

I teleported away after that.  Double Take was in trouble, and although he wasn't the most likeable pony at the moment, I was not going to let him die out there... even if he can come back from that.

***

The Everfree is a dangerous place, I'll say that much. I saw a pack (or maybe it's a pride?) of manticores stalking about the place, as well as some creatures I can't even begin to describe.

The other animals seem generally harmless, though.  The birds still fly overhead, and the squirrels scurry about, as per usual.  It's nice if you just stay out of the danger zone.  However, one thing has been bothering me.  A pack of timber-wolves seem to have been following my trail, and I'm not sure why.  I fear that they will catch up to me and make short work of my living flesh.  Their howls grow closer and closer by the minute.

Outrunning them won't be an option.  I'll have to hide under the cover of some foliage if I want to survive.  That, or break the trail somewhere.  I haven't decided, but I'll have to soon.  The howl I heard just now came from a place that was a little too close for comfort.

***

I searched for hours.  The guy could've been anywhere in this forest!  He could've been dead!  But I found him all right.  And it was good timing, too.

***

Twilight saved my life.

I was stuck in the forest for hours trying to find the exit (my magic was depleted by the kick in the head, so teleporting was out of the question), but before I could, those timber-wolves attacked me! One pinned me to the ground while the rest circled and waited for the Alpha to take the first bite.

It opened its jaws wide, and I prepared to be in excruciating pain.  Death is nothing more than a transition, so pain is all one feels before they go to the other side to start again, or in my case, continue the story.  I did not fear death itself.

I felt as the beast was thrown off of me, and saw Twilight standing somewhere nearby, horn flaring with magical energy as she blasted those things back and away from me.  One by one, they ran away.

I decided I should get up and thank my savior.

Worst.  Idea.  Ever.

***

The timber-wolves my not have eaten him, but he wasn't unscathed.  The logs they were made out of... one of them must've protruded from the claw, or perhaps it was the claw, as I saw him try to rise, he fell to the ground and shouted in agony.  I saw as the crimson liquid flowed out from his body, originating from a giant gash in his left side.  He tried to rise again, only to fall back on the ground.  He didn't have much time left.  I did the one thing I could think of to do right then.

***

It was refreshing this time of the year.  The fall winds whipped around me, and I marveled at the beautiful landscape before me.  In my view stood a mountain, and a forest lying beneath it, with the perfect amount of sunlight to make in glint off the top of the ice-capped rock.  Amazing.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

I didn't jump at her voice.  I was expecting it.  She was always waiting for me.

"Quite." was my reply. Simple, meaningful, and never enough to satisfy her craving.

"I thought you'd be here.  I felt your presence nearby.  I had to see if you'd really be here." she said, walking towards me.

"Well, here I am."

"You never really were that talkative, were you? You need to speak your mind a little bit more, Impression."

"Hm."

She knelt down next to me, and I felt her mane brush on my shoulder.  I took a minute to take in the moment, to allow her time to adjust to me again.

"You've been gone for so long."

"So have you."

The sun began to fall beneath the horizon, and I felt her push up next to me.

"The nights are cold around here.  Why don't you come home with me?  We'll sit by the fire, have a little chat... "  She was whispering these words into my ear.  I looked over at her, seeing the image of perfection.

I nuzzled in a little more. "Perhaps. If time allows."

"You're not staying?"

"I would if I could, but I have feeling that my time will soon be up."

"You haven't even been here for more than a minute! C'mon, stay here with me. I don't want to lose you again."

"I'm so sorry..." was all I could muster. I felt her touch begin to fade, as well as myself.  I felt as the world disappeared, and as I fell into the light.

///

I opened my eyes, only to have them close again. I blinked a few times as my ears began to hear again.

"How's he doing? Is he going to be okay?"

"He took quite the slice there.  The timber-wolf really hit him hard.  We're keeping a close eye on him, we'll let you know if his condition changes."

I didn't know the mare's voice, but yet it was all so familiar.  I've heard it before, but not with my own ears.

I groaned as my eyes succeeded in opening beyond a squint.  The mare ran over to me.

"Sir? Sir! You're awake! Um, okay... this is going to hurt for just a second."

I felt as a hypodermic needle was stuck into my foreleg, injecting something into me, and exited again.

"Sorry, we didn't expect you to be up so early.  Tell me, what happened to you?"

"Wait, didn't I just--" the second voice tried to interject.  It was clearly Twilight's.

"Timber... wolves..." I managed to say.  I took several deep breaths.  I tried my luck again to get up, but a pair of hooves pushed me back down again.

"Oh-ho-ho, no you don't.  If you move muscle, it might tear what we just patched up. You don't want that to happen, right?"

"Of course..." I said in a little whisper.

"Good.  Now, the doctor says you can talk to him to jog his memory a bit.  Make sure he doesn't have any signs of amnesia.  Don't want him in the mental ward after that’s all done healing."

"Got it."

"Okay. If anything happens--"

"He'll be fine."

"Alright, just making sure..."

I heard her walk away.

"Nice nurse, eh?" I said with a little laugh. "It's like I could feel her giving me 'the eye'."

"Yeah, well... she's the best in the business, as they say.  You do remember what happened right?"

"Damn timber-wolves... they tracked me down.  Followed my trail.  I wasn't expecting them to find me so soon."

I thought I heard her whisper something under her breath. She spoke directly, "Well then it's good I found you when I did, right?"

"Not really.  A couple hours back would've been nice, too." I said, half-jokingly.

"How did you get there, anyway?"

I wanted to tell her about my attacker.  I did.  I'm just not sure what to say.  If I mentioned I was attacked, I might have to go into court at some point... meaning more unwanted attention.  However, I could also just not press charges...

"You know what?  It doesn't matter.  Here," she said, "These are yours."

She hooved me a few papers.  They were my notes, the ones she was after.  How did she end up with these?

"How--?"

"I was given them.  I didn't read them, if you're wondering.  A friend of mine... found them, nearby were you usually stay."

So they knew where I was staying, and they had the notes.  I let my luck ride and asked a question.

"Why me?"

"Don't we all ask that question?"

There was no need for suspicion; I knew who had done this to me.

"Why?" I looked her in the directly in the eyes.  She hesitated, opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again, biting her lip.

"Twilight... tell me... was it you who brought me to this fate?"

"NO!" she shouted, then realized it and lowered her tone. "I mean, no.  I didn't do this to you.  Why would I do this to you?"

"Then who did, and why?"

***

I didn't want to place blame on my friend.  That would be wrong to do.  However, not telling him would be wrong to do as well.  I had a decision to make here: Blame myself, or blame my friend?

I couldn't risk the consequences.  I rode my luck into the conversational warfare.

***

"All right, I... it was me," she sighed.

"It's all right... Thank you." I said.

***

Wait, I was forgiven? Not only that, but thanked?

"Why? What did I do?" I asked him.

He raised his head to look at me. "I was at peace... if only for a moment, I was at peace..." He smiled, let his head droop back down, and went to sleep.  He needed the rest after all that happened to him.

Speaking of which, I should rest up, too.  I've stayed up a little later than usual to finish this part.  I will pick up my quill tomorrow, hopefully with good news about Double Take's recovery.