Power is Knowledge

The nightmares happened again last night.  I'm not surprised: I did save a pony yesterday.  I saw the moment of death, my brother,  and the light as I exited the nightmares, all as per usual.  I realized there's something very important that I forgot to mention...

The two sides work opposite from one another, but they are connected, for they are parallel universes.  Surprising?  Probably not.  Interesting?  Probably so.

Now, as one may notice, if we are of two universes intertwined, that also means that there are copies of ponies, from either side, that act in the exact in the same manner.  This pony, Fluttershy, has a counterpart on the other side.  She lives with the animals and tends to them in the wild, as this side would call it.  There is also another Rarity on the other side, always creating the finest clothes for everypony to wear, if they choose to wear clothes altogether.  However, she does not have a sister on the other side, or at least I haven't seen her yet.

But these are minor ponies.  These are nothing compared to what the other side has.  The "Princesses" of this land also have counterparts on the other side, but only in myth and legend.  They say the two alicorn sisters created the other side, as a place to take refuge away from the evil on this side.  They created an entire universe, purely with their magic.

It makes me wonder how real that makes the other side... are the ponies there alive?  Do they have their own thoughts, actions, or even original ideas? Are they independent?  I would like to think so.  They were created to be perfect, flawless in every way... they were just based off of ponies from this side, that's all...

I ponder these things as I see a familiar purple unicorn enter the room.

***

I went over to Fluttershy's today to check up on Double Take, but I found she wasn't answering her door.  I walked in cautiously, asking if anypony was home.  I heard her call out form a nearby room, which I entered.

"There you are, Twilight!  I was getting so worried about Double Take... I couldn't let him disappear again!"

I looked at her face. "Fluttershy, did you get any sleep last night?"  Her face was a little pale, and her eyelids were drooping.

"Well... I guess not.  I had to make sure he wasn't going to take off in the middle of the night."

"Why don't you go rest?  I'll watch over him for a bit."

"Really?  You'd do that for me?"

"Of course!" This trip was more for my own needs, but looked like she desperately needed some sleep.

"Thank you.  How long do you think you can stay?"

"A long as you need me to."

"Okay.  He's been doing nothing but writing all morning..."

Well, that was both good and bad news right there.  He won't be done anytime soon, but at least he's working on those notes.

"Alright, thanks for letting me know.  I'll take over here now."

She went up to bed first the first time in about 18 hours.  I "watched over" DT while she was away.  I should probably mention: striking up conversation with him is much easier to do when he's writing, for one reason or another.

"So... why'd you leave the hospital so early?"

"I didn't like it.  The nurse and doctor said they needed to discuss something with their superiors, and I kind of just... got out."

"Ok, but why here?"

"Why not?  What they said scared me, and I ran."

"Well, you kind of ran so far away..."

"I didn't realize the distance mattered."

"It does to me!  I was out there searching for you with my friend, and eventually we found out you were here by searching places we thought you would never be!"

"Am I really that unpredictable?" he stopped his writing for a second.

"Well, yeah... sort of."

He continued his writing. "If you had the foresight of me being unpredictable, why wouldn't you search the least likely places first?"

"Does that even make sense?"

He paused and thought for a moment. "Maybe, maybe not."

The conversation was going nowhere.  I needed to ask some bigger questions.

"So... care to tell me what you're writing about?"

"You know full well I won't tell you that."

There I go again, thinking this is going to be that easy.

"Well... care to tell me what's on your mind?"

"Nothing much.  Only knowledge beyond what you-- hell, anypony-- could ever understand."

For some reason, I doubted this.

"I hate to say it, but the hospital called me.  They told me you were dead."

"The machine must've turned off or something." he replied.  Curse his impeccable sense of logic.

"Okay... they also said somepony was dying in the same room, and that she mysteriously came back to life."

"How interesting.  I think I might've been asleep at that point.  It takes a lot to wake me up."

That explains how he could fall asleep with somepony watching him all night.  Fluttershy probably snuck back into the room to make sure he didn't go anywhere until the time we woke up.  His story made sense.

"So you had nothing to do with it?  Nothing at all?"

"Well, I can't say that.  I was in the same room, I just didn't affect the situation."

He was being very vague, as usual.  Why was it so hard to get one simple thing out of the guy?

"Well maybe you're not asking the right questions."

I did a double take.  I didn't say anything right then, so... "What did you say?"

"Oh, uh, nothing... nothing..."

***

Dammit, why did I have to do that?  I just gave her something to work off of now! Ugh...

I read her thoughts.  It has nothing to do with my power, but it is some pretty advanced magic.

"You just... how did you do that?"

"Do what?" I asked.  I had to negate my actions, quickly.

"You just read my mind!"

"No I didn't!"

***

"You did!  You just did!"

"Impossible!"

I had an idea.

You did read my mind!

"No, I didn--" he covered his mouth with his hoof.  "Shit."

"Ha! I got you!  I didn't even say that out loud! You're reading my thoughts!"

"So?  What of it?"

"We both know that's really advanced magic!  How would you know spells like that?  Just who are you, really?"

***

I needed an excuse, and I needed one soon.  I came up with the most logical explanation I could think of for the moment.

"I studied under Celestia herself!  I learned tons of magic as her pupil!"

"You?  Studying under Celestia?  Impossible!  I'm the one who is her student, not you!"

I read her thoughts and memories in a second and knew that she spoke the truth.  I had just dug my own grave... so to speak.

"Why can't you just tell me these things?!  Who are you?  What are you?  How did you get here?  Why do you know such advanced magic?"

No... no, it couldn't be happening.  THIS CANNOT.  BE.  HAPPENING.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

***

I wasn't in Equestria.  I wasn't sitting next to DT... where was I?

"Well, well, well... look at you.  First Impression, mother's favorite.  Always mother's favorite."

What the...?  Who was that talking?  I looked around to see one pony, threatening another with a knife.

"What's going on here?  Who are you two?"  I asked, but neither one of them noticed me.

"Brother, don't do this.  You know that's not true!  Your mind is clouded with evil!"

"Evil?  HAHAHA!  You know not of the true nature of evil.  If that's how you feel about evil, though... let's see how you feel about this!"

He stabbed the pony over and over, and blood spattered over the walls.  I felt sick to my stomach just watching it.  The stabbed pony whispered one word.

"Why...?"

He fell down, and that's when I saw his face.  Was that... Double Take???

The world flashed white and I found myself sitting next to DT again.  His hooves were on the sides of his head, which he was shaking back and forth.

"Double Take, what was that?  What just happened--?"

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM ME!" he roared.  "YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

I was shocked.  He had never been this angry. "Double Take, explain what I saw, now!"  I don't know why I felt so demanding, but that is what I yelled at him.

"You were not supposed to see that! NOPONY WAS SUPPOSED TO SEE THAT!"

I thought I could hear Fluttershy's whimpering upstairs.  Quite the rage, DT had going here.

"I saw it.  I saw you." I said.

"You speak of this to nopony.  Nopony!  Understand?"

"Explain it, and I swear, your secret will be safe with me."

***

Dammit!  Dammit all to hell!  If I didn't explain it, she would find out what was going on, and she'd have free reign to inform whomever she chose, including the Princess, whom I knew she had connections to now. However, if I just explain it, then she will keep true to her word and tell nopony, and my secret will not be compromised further than it needed to be.

I went with the lesser of the two evils.

"Fine!  Ask me what you want about it, but you tell nopony else what you saw, or about anything that happened here today."

"You've got a deal.  Why don't you explain to me who those two ponies were that I saw."

"That was me and my brother... but I expect you deduced as much."

"What happened?"

"That day was the day of the stabbing.  Eleven killed. Murdered, by my own brother."

"Holy Celestia..."

"I know.  He killed off an entire bloodline in one go... or at least, he came close."

"You survived, obviously."

"Yes.  And it is through me that the legacy will truly die."

"What do you mean?"

"That has nothing to do with it.  Ask me something else."

"Where was all that happening, and when?"

"I cannot answer these questions.  The answers would only confuse you."

"You promised me answers, Double."

"This is the one exception."

"Fine.  I'll respect your wishes... for now.  I expect an answer sometime in the near future."

"You'll get your answers if you would just be patient."

"Why did he do it?  Your brother, I mean."

"He had evil in his heart.  There was no stopping him.  Insanity ruled over him, as well as his actions."

"'Evil in his heart'?  What do you mean by that?"

"I know not of the entity that drove him mad, only that it was powerful enough to do so.  My brother was the most kind and caring pony I knew.  This could not have been his fault; Evil magic was at hand."

"I'm assuming you don't know what happened after you were stabbed."

"No, I don't."  I lied.

"Alright... I've asked you enough about that.  Everything discussed here and up until this moment won't leave this room."

"It had better not."

***

I was surprised at him. "You're making threats now?"

"You want my notes, and I want my secrets to be just that: secret.  So I propose a deal.  If you tell anypony my secret, I will burn these notes.  However, if you don't, they will stay intact, allowing you to peruse them at your disposal... as soon as I allow for it."

"Fine.  The only thing is, I have more to ask you."

"What more is there to ask?  You asked about who, what, when , where, why, and how.  You said you had no more questions.  There's nothing more."

"No, not about the memory is what I meant.  This is about what Fluttershy told me you had said."

He turned his head to the side. "Hm, that."

"You spoke of somepony?  A mare?"

"..."

***

I said nothing.

"Are you going to say anything?"

"I'm looking at the clouds." I said.  Question answered.

"Are you going to answer my question or not?"

"I'm looking. At. The clouds."  I said, pointing to them.  I just stared into them, hoping she would give up asking.

"Double, who is she?  Who is this mare you spoke of?"

I kept staring.

"Please, Double?  Can't you tell me just a few simple things about her?"

"I'm trying to forget Her for now."

"Why?"

"Do you think I'm going to talk about Her if I'm not trying to think about Her?"

"You say 'her' as if... I don't know, it just sounds... different."

"I'm not talking about Her, okay?"

She looked disappointed.  I didn't feel good about seeing H-- I mean, her this way.  The notes I took that were about Her weren't that important... right?  Maybe I could give her those?  But there were the notes on the other side as well, within those notes, and I promised myself I wouldn't let her see them before it was completed.

"Wait... is she your marefriend?"

The question reached my ears and I couldn't believe what she had said.  That question was what racked my brain for a long time, as I was not sure about how strong our connection was.  Would she say I'm her coltfriend?  I have no idea... and yet this was just a simple yes or no question.  Not answering this would be wrong to do, but there was a contradiction of complicated simplicity about it.

"I suppose one might see it that way."

"No, no, no... I'm asking you what you think, nopony else."

"Well I... She might say... I think..."

Dammit me, form a sentence.  You have to defend yourself here.

"Well, yeah, I suppose." I was disappointed with the nonchalant answer I created.

"Ooooooh, Double's got a marefriend!  Tell me, do you looooove her?"

Now she was just mocking me for going along with what I knew was social trap at this point.

"Of course I love her!"  I shouted, hoping I didn't sound too defensive, but the smile on her face made it look like I had.

"Aw, that's so cute!"

"It is not cute!"

"What does she look like?  You got a picture?  Is it you making out with her?" she made her lips into an 'o' as she said it.  I didn't like her tone.

"I don't have a picture." I lied again.  I did have a picture, but that not that I'd share it with her... and it wasn't the kind of picture she was describing.  It was much more... appropriate.  Possibly too appropriate, if that’s even possible.

"But everypony has a picture of their special somepony!"

"Not me."

"Really?"  She looked at my bag, with all the papers.  She swiped it up a moment before I could.

"Let's see... notes, notes, don't worry, I'm not reading those... oh, here it is!"

She pulled out the only photograph from the mix.  I wondered how she sorted the papers out so fast just to find it.  Quite the organization skills.

I didn't say anything.  She looked at the picture and her smiling mouth turned into that of despair.

"Oh Celestia, I'm so sorry."  she said quickly, almost tripping over her words.

"Shut up." I said.  It was rude at that moment, but I was angry.

"Double, I had no idea--"

"I said shut up!"

I swiped the picture from her and looked at it a moment.  The one time I had a picture taken was when I visited Her grave... this was the picture.

Twilight looked at the ground, one hoof raised a bit off the floor, as if she was about to walk away, but she did not move.

"You know, I ask myself every time... I ask myself how it happened, why it happened.  She didn't deserve this... She didn't bucking deserve this!"

"Um, Double? I don't mean to pry, but is that what you meant when you said you needed to see her again?"

"That is exactly what I meant."  I didn't take my eyes off the picture.  I'll be back soon... I promise... just a little more work to be done, than I can finally end it...

"So her name is Second Chance?  It says that on the tombstone in that picture.  That's quite a peculiar name... kind of like your name.  Isn't that right, First Impression?"

"Wait, what?! How do you know my real name?"

"From the memory.  Your brother called you First Impression."

"Oh, right.  That."

"Why do you mask your real name?"

I was going to answer when a certain thought of hers appeared in her head. "I think you know why."

"How do you know?"

"How do you think I know?"

She thought for a moment.

"Stop reading my thoughts.  Please.  It's an invasion of privacy."

"Is your interrogation any less of such an invasion?" I countered.

She heaved a sigh. "You have a point."

"So are you done, or should I look deeper into your mind as you try to talk to me about things you could know about if you stopped distracting me?"

"I think I'm done.  Promise me you won't run away again, okay?  I'm only trying to help you."

"If only I could believe that."

She looked away and trotted out of the room.  She called out to her friend,  "Fluttershy, you don't need to worry about Double Take!  He's not going anywhere.  Try to get some sleep!"

I didn't hear a response, but I knew the shy pony must be scared.  I lashed out earlier, and again a bit later.  She probably will not talk to me until she figures I've calmed down.  And perhaps it is right of her... I seem to be going off the rails today with anger.  I need to calm down... and yet, the only thing that would usually calm me down is not something I can think about right now.

Distractions.  I need some distractions.  That is why I write.  So, where was I?

Ah, yes.  Parallel universes.  The Princesses, covered that...  what is left?

My family.  Ah yes, my family.

Before they were... forced out of existence, my family was great.  My parents were loving and caring of my brother, sister, and I.  My brother I've already talked about in great detail, but I should probably note the small fact that he was the oldest.  He was the one who kept my sister and me in line... peacefully.  My mother worked as one of the ponies on the harvest, and my father was a researcher.

My parents were of two different races.  If their jobs didn't explain it, my father was a unicorn, and my mother was an earth pony.  My mother was away most of the time, and my father was constantly taking notes on what I would later find out to be the Relics of Unity.  However, there was no denying they loved each other.  My sister was an earth pony, and my brother a unicorn.  I guess the races are very gender-specific, in that respect, but moving on.  My sister was a clever one.  She always found a way to crack some kind of joke that was placed so well into the adult's conversations, everypony would laugh.  However, there were more members of my family I should note.

My grandparents from both sides of the family (or what was left of them... one of my grandfathers passed away earlier) lived together, and they always disagreed.  However, unlike on this side, they did not argue about their beliefs, and rather discussed both sides to see how well each worked out.  They were purebred, unlike my parents, but they really didn't mind that their son or daughter got married to another race.

Lastly, there were my two aunts and uncles, both on my mother's side.  Aunt Spicy and Uncle Bitter (we referred to them by their first names) were always so nice, and they were the best chefs in the family.  Aunt Reason and Uncle Logic (we referred to them by their last names) were the ones who went to school with my father, both of them, and were the ones who suggested my mother start a relationship with him.  I can say with most certainty I would not be here without them.

And so, my family lived together in one big house, peacefully and with much happiness.  My brother aspired to be a researcher of myths, like our father.  He told us one day, he was going to change the world.  I looked up to him in my younger years.  As I grew older, I found that my path was not like my brother or father.  I wanted to be a healer, and my parents supported me in that.  My sister wanted to be an alicorn... my family and I didn't doubt it for a second.  She was on the path to greatness at just age seven, asking questions to the elders that even they could not answer.  If she was still alive, perhaps she could've achieved her goal...

My father invited me into his office one day and said to me, "Son, I've found the great power that keeps us together."  He was talking about the Relics of Unity, of course, and I was fascinated.  I had never heard of such things in my life.  He told me of the great wonders one could perform if they had just one of the relics.  I recall he got stumped somewhere in his research.  Those who searched for the great power brought him the relics from all across the land, but they never found the final piece, the sixth piece.  My father said he was going to find it himself.  In fact, he was getting ready to leave on a great journey to find it when he spoke with me.  He left us, and we did not hear from him for years.

When he returned, he told us the sixth piece does not exist, that it can't exist in this world, and that he was going to find a way to get it.  He got to work immediately, and his researching career continued.  My brother, however, was desperate for answers, and decided to help his father with finding the final piece of the puzzle.  My sister was wrapped up in how an earth pony like herself could gain magical abilities and wings for flight.  She was doing very well, as the elders told me, and that her curiosity was unrivaled.  I was glad to hear such things, but something grew in the back of my mind.  An idea that was soon to show itself.  My medical career was not going well.  I could not heal pony's wounds, not externally, as hard as I tried.  Then the idea hit me to research the pony mind, how it worked, and one could do the repair it.  Many ponies had tried and failed,  but I knew I could do it.  I got to work on what would be the first ideas of psychology in that world, and my progress was, as the elders told me, astounding.  I found that ponies could link minds, thoughts, feelings, and memories.  I found how to get others to remember events of the past if they had forgotten, and I found new ways for ponies to learn and understand things through magic.  That is how I came to learn the spells I know today.

My father and mother were very proud, as was the rest of my family, telling me I had made a big contribution to ponykind.  I told them to thank my brother, whom I looked up to over the years.  He and my father had found out that the existence of another universe was logical, and they explained they might be able to find the sixth part of the Relics there.  My father was ecstatic; he wanted to find a way to get to this other world as soon as possible.  I urged him and my brother to solve one of the greatest mysteries that had ever been discovered, and to utilize their resources to reach that goal of true enlightenment.

I remember my brother told me, "Impression, you and I will change the world.  There's no stopping us now!"  I will never forget those words... for they were the last he ever spoke that were truly his.  I cannot say what happened next, as now is not the time.

Nevertheless, I write on.  The world must know this at some point, but not now.  "If not today, when?" you ask?

... I'm not sure, but when the time comes, I will know.  As for now, I hide these writings from the world.

***

I told Applejack about what happened to DT (except for the part he and I agreed not to talk about).  She was mad that he ran, but was comforted by the fact that he was still alive, despite all that happened to him.  The hospital is not charging him for his stay because of the confusion, and DT isn't going back.  So nothing changes.

I don't like it.  I make so little progress each day, only to wait on all the progress made by DT on his notes.  It's frustrating that he still isn't giving them up to me, but I have an idea.  Being his friend was good, but I'm afraid that won’t work.  My studies of friendship will continue with my friends, but DT will be another case.  What happened today with seeing his memory was unwanted by him, but made great progress for me.  His brother went mad somehow and stabbed him half to death.  If I can work off of this, everything else will become clear.

Now is the time to know who and what he is, whether he knows it is time or not.

However, there was still a whole day.  My talk with him lasted only a little while, and I was desperate for more answers.  I decided to look up his history by his real name, First Impression.  What I found was more than I would've ever expected.

***

Double Take is scary.  From what I heard today, he gets very angry very quickly, and I don't think talking to him will make him feel any better.  Maybe if I just go in to check on his wound...

***

Fluttershy entered the room, saying in a little whisper that she wanted to see the progress on my recovery.  I wasn't surprised, as I knew with my previous actions I seemed mean and rude.  Not that I am not, it's just... I have little patience.  I told her that was fine, and she unwrapped it.  The wound wasn't bleeding anymore, which wasn't surprising, but the way she knew these medical procedures was... quite interesting.  Fascinating how one with wings could mend somepony's wounds, especially this well.

I apologized for my shouting during when we first met, and I noted we were not properly introduced.  I held out my hoof, told her that my name was Double Take, and that I was a researcher and psychologist.  She gave me this look of surprise at how I was doing something of that degree.  She shook my hoof for second, but broke off the connection quickly.  I guess her name suits her, being so shy.

I apologized for shouting at Twilight, saying we had a disagreement of sorts, and I promised her it wouldn't come to that again.  She said that would be nice if I didn't yell so loud, as it scared her animals.

I read her thoughts and noticed she was not a doctor or nurse, but a veterinarian.  This surprised me, as I didn't believe she would know how to fix up a pony, but nonetheless I was healing up.  She must've caught the surprised look in my eye, and asked me what I was thinking.

I said nothing.  There was no need.  I delved into her memories a bit, and saw she had the power to communicate with animals.  How very interesting... it was just like on the other side, but it wasn't much of a surprise.  I haven't seen any discrepancies between the two sides yet.  She asked me if I was going to talk to her.  I'm not sure how she took my blank stare, but she was kind enough to tell me my condition.

"Your wound healed up very quickly.  You should be able to leave in a couple of days."

"Days?"  I asked.

"Yes, two or three. Could you stay here?... I mean, if you don't mind.  I don't think that the outdoors is a very safe place right now."

"The best of ideas."  I said.  It was not true, but I could think of nothing better to suggest.

"Good.  Get some rest.  All that shouting must've taken a lot of energy out of you."

She was right, of course.  I did feel quite tired after my "talk" with Twilight.  I decided rest wouldn't be so bad... if it wasn't for the nightmares.  However, I had nothing else I could do... my writing, done for today, and my body feeling like... well, a load of crap, at the moment, thus making it the only thing left to do.

So, as I write my last words for today, I close my eyes and hope the terrors of the night do not find me, even in the day.