The Spirit Of Knowledge

Freedom, it's something almost everyone takes for granted. Almost no one realizes the gift they have, until it's taken away. Can you imagine life without freedom? Imagine being stuck in a cell for the rest of your life, all you can do is read books and talk to your imaginary friends. How quickly would you go insane? 10 years? 30 years? How about over 2000? There are those who say one small moment can't ruin your life. I never understood why they thought that. What if you tripped and accidentally pushed someone into a moving car? What if that person died? What if you're found guilty of murder? What if that one small moment ruined the rest of your life? What if you lost your freedom? What would you give to get it back? What would you do to make sure you kept it? My name is Shade Mystic, and I have regained my freedom. No one, will ever take it from me again.

"It's happening, finally whatever this is, is happening. Ahh, I'm so excited! Hope I don't die though. That would suck..." My Watchers looked at me funny for that. I guess they wouldn't be happy if I died, or they're just looking after themselves. My watchers are six sentient beings I created, out of nothing but magic. Without me to sustain them they would fall apart. Oh well, more important things to worry about right now. I have been waiting for this for so long it's all I think about. I left my domain and fell into my stoney prison. I wanted a first row seat.

It started with pressure. The very fabric of the universe around me rippled and waved, as the pressure built the rippling became more intense. My statue started to crack, and I felt the enchantment being destroyed. My statue fell apart around me and I shook off the last pieces of stone.  I had to close my eyes against a brilliant white light, and I heard a thud. I blinked my eyes rapidly to clear them, and what I saw shocked me. Laying down in front of me, lying there unconscious was me. Right there in front of me was another version of me. All around the clearing I was in space rippled and weaved, and outside of it the world seemed to warp. I saw smoke in the sky, then the trees seemed to disappear, before coming back.

I saw changelings and ponies fighting, and I saw the world turn into a wasteland. Feeling the air move I turned back to my double. I watched in awe as space rippled around him and memories appeared out of nothing. They were like glowing white squares, and I saw my own past on them. I saw the moment I appeared in this world to the moment discord teleported me. All the squares seemed to float into my copies head and my copy started to move. Before it could awaken fully the rippling space condensed and seemed to shatter, like a plane of glass. The pieces of space fell, and where they once were was a hole. Through that hole I saw Celestia and Luna approaching discord. I was looking at the past. I blinked in surprise as my double was pulled through, and the pieces of space rose up and covered the hole once again. I was bombarded with the sounds of the forest, as the rippling vanished and time once again flowed.

This is how the universe fixes itself? I thought it would try and destroy me again, not whatever this was. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Only my memories of being a demon were added, so I know my past life was real. That I was real. The bad news is, I didn't know if my time as a demon was real. That was obviously me from the past, and normally one would think that means I was never a demon. But then where did the memories come from in the first place? Why did the universe try to erase me? If my time as a demon was never real, then there wouldn't have been a paradox.

Ahh this is to confusing! I just don't even... I mean, what? Gathering my power I physically moved to my domain. Unlike before where it was instant, this time I had to fly through the aether. Imagine if you could see the wind, and it was made of rainbows. Now imagine your floating so high up you can only see the wind. That's what the aether is like. It's an infinite void of rainbows. Well, the part I live in is anyway. You don't actually travel distance inside the aether, it's more like you... exist yourself to different infinite pockets. The only way to find someones domain is to randomly come across it, have someone lead you, or already have been there at some point. Once you actually go into a domain, you can always find your way back to it. Within a few seconds of entering my domain I laid down to fall asleep. It had been to long since I last dreamed.

My dream started out pretty nice. I was in the stands of a colosseum watching two panthers fight. I was pretty certain they were symbolic of something. One was a dark blood red, and the other was a pristine, shiny gold. The red one was missing skin all over its body, with visible ribs on its side. It was hissing and growling at the golden cat constantly, and seemed like nothing but a blood thirsty beast. The golden cat however was untouched, effortless batting the red one's attacks away. There wasn't a single mark on its coat, and was obviously intelligent. Unlike the red one, its attacks were precise and calculated. After a few more minutes of watching, I had an idea of what the fight meant. This was my inner demon battling my inner spirit. It was the two powers fighting for dominance, and spirit was winning. Yet no matter how badly Demon got wounded, it never died. After a while longer, I realized I had a choice. I could let this fight play out endlessly, neither side ever managing to win, or I could choose the victor. No matter what I wasn't going to make my demon side win, but I didn't really want to lose it either.

This is the last proof that my time as a demon was real. This imprint upon my soul, this internal struggle, was my consolation. But did it matter? It wasn't like I could show this to anyone, even if I did no one would understand its significance. And I didn't really need the fight to be endless, the fact it is happening, right now, is all the proof I needed for myself. It didn't matter if no one else believed me, why would I tell them about it anyway?

'Hi, I'm shade mystic, and I used to be a demon. But don't worry, the evil god of chaos sent me back in time to stop this world from being devastated. Why was I locked in stone? Well, your princesses saw me murder their supposed comrade before their eyes. He was actually a demon who wanted to trick them into selling the souls of this entire world. See? I'm also a super strong spirit now to, so let's all be friends!'

All that rant would do is make them think I'm either evil or crazy. Maybe even both. The sisters never even mentioned me to anyone, so there isn't a reason for anything to question what I say about myself. As far as this world needs to know, I have always been the spirit of knowledge. With my decision made I gathered as much magic as I could. Since this was a dream I decided to have a little fun, I created a dark black fire and surrounded Demon with it. I named it VoidFire and it did its job well.

The fire burned away all traces of the red cat, leaving a vacuum in its wake. Once it disappeared air was violently sucked into the gap, and I could feel the loss. I'm not going to lie and say something stupid like I felt lighter. The truth is that I just felt something was missing. Something that was there a second ago, wasn't there anymore. I wasn't any less evil, my mind didn't clear, I was the exact same person I was a second ago. Only difference is I'm not part demon anymore.I was brought out of my musing when I felt a tap on my shoulder, while I was lost in thought Spirit has walked over to me. He was bigger than before, and he was tilting his head questioningly at me.

"If you're wondering why I intervened, It's because I felt like moving on. I decided to leave the past in the past." He seemed to think a bit before he nodded his head. I blinked in surprise as he turned into a golden mist, and seemed to flow into my skin. Why are dreams always so full of symbolism? Why can't I just dream of getting a paper and a pencil. On the paper is two names with a check box under each one. I check the box of which I prefer and move on. No symbolism needed. Oh well, let's see what I can do for fun around here. I had barely taken a few steps before the world around me shook. I could feel something trying to enter my dream and my subconscious wasn't happy about it. I heard a siren start flaring as everything blinked red. Weapons of all kinds filled the sky, pointing away from the ground. I probably should have checked out what was happening more, but I was to surprised. I didn't think my subconscious could be this active. I felt something push against my dream once again, before it all fell apart.

I sighed as I opened my eyes, my nap was supposed to be relaxing and take my mind off things. Now I'm even more stressed out. With a mental command I summoned my librarians. "Alright guys, I need to know everything important that's happened in equestria in the last ten years." They all saluted before gathering the books I asked for. I ground in exasperation as I looked at the pile. I had a lot to catch up on.

Wow, the last few years have had more disasters then the last thousand. There's two new alicorns, Princess Luna is back, Discord escaped and rained down chaos, was then defeated, and then let go so he could be reformed. The first new alicorn Cadence, had a wedding to the second new alicorn's brother. They had to do it twice since in the first wedding, she was replaced by the changeling queen. Damn I hate changelings. Apparently the elements of harmony(the weapon that turned me to stone) come from the tree of harmony, I guess there its fruit? Anyway, the tree was dying so the had to give elements back to it. Equestria was almost destroyed by a centaur named tirek. After Twilight(second new alicorn) and the other five element bearers defeated him with the power of rainbows(I shit you not) Twilight got a new castle.

Everything was calm for a little bit before someone named Starlight Glimmer tried to cause a paradox. Apparently Twilight went back in time repeatedly to stop her, before she talked her down and made Starlight her student. That was two days ago, and I'm pretty sure it's what allowed the universe to fix the paradox I created. Apparently to repair the space time continuum, you destroy the space time continuum. Makes sense right? Time magic, is worst magic, end of story. Oh, and the first new alicorn is pregnant.

After six long hours, I was finally caught up. Well, caught up on the important things. All that was left was getting my journal, and building a house. One was hard and dangerous, the other was easy and time consuming. It wasn't that hard of a choice.

I smiled as I flew along the ceiling. Once I manifested back into the everfree, I used a tracking spell through my link with my journal. It led me to a small town outside the everfree, inside a giant crystal castle. The castle belongs to Princess Twilight, and the damn thing is unbelievably huge. I'm fairly certain it's bigger in the inside. The hallways are so big you can literally fly above people. Which incidentally, I just did. The Princess and her friends didn't even notice as I glided overhead, sticking to the darker parts of the ceiling. I was getting close to my journal. I flew threw a variety of different rooms, and to be honest Twilight deserves a refund. The castle is so disorganized and weirdly decorated. One room is overly fancy, the next has hay bales, and so on. Eventually the tracking spell led me to what I assume is her room. There's stuff animals and books everywhere! It took me a while to even spot the bed. After another flight throughout the room, I found a desk. On top of it sat my journal, finally I would have it back in my claws. I could feel my journal thrum with excitement, which I didn't think it could do. That's something I can worry about when it's safe though.

"Hold on girls, I almost forgot my book." I whipped my head towards the door as the handle started to turn. It seemed the Princess had forgotten something, and it was time to leave. I chuckled softly as I vanished into the aether.

"Hello, is any pony there?" Twilight asked as she entered her bedroom. Thats strange I thought I heard some pony laughing. She though has she scanned the room. Her eyes widened when she noticed the floor. The stuffed animals around the desk had been moved, and her book was gone!

"Thief! Somepony stole my book!" She shouted with alarm. She used magic to scan the room and found it empty. With growing panic she ran back to her friends, she had to warn them there was a thief in the castle!