1,601
16,775
After an unknown accident Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash awake to find themselves sharing the same body! Now they must struggle to hold themselves together as their world is turned upside down. How long can two ponies exist in a single mind? It’s a race against time as they search for answers before it’s too late. When all is said and done, you’ll never look at Twilight Dash the same way again.
You know what interests me most about this story? In most "two brains, one body" stories, the "brains" are neatly kept apart. They essentially wrest control from each other to manipulate the body, or they split the body in two. Here, they're mish-mashed together into one consciousness. It feels just like something like that would: confusing, disconnected, and blurry. I can kinda see towards the end that the two personalities are floating back out, but... I almost don't want them to. Keep it in that cloudy goo. The vagueness and the disorientation are what make it so fascinating.
That sums up my reaction quite nicely!
Hellos Clappie!
Actually, up until I received comments on this work I had never heard of "Shylight" (although, once I am all done with this story I will head over and take a look at it). The idea for this story stems from a post about MLP fanfiction which talked about specific terms used in this universe. One of those was the tendency for writers to mash up two character names in a shipping story. I liked the idea of Twilight Dash, it just sort of sounded neat, but I'm not so big into shipping. In the end, this was the result.
Hellos iEspeon!
The Sad tag is more of a just-in-case. While the overall story (so far) isn't sad, the underlying theme (two minds trapped in a single body, struggling to survive) is a little sad. Certainly not happy-fun-time. Can't say much more than that without spoilers on future chapters.
I would say the most notorious example would be It's Dangerous Business - Twilight accidentally uses too much magical lube(don't laugh) and ends up frying her horn. It's Dangerous Business is a pretty damn straightforward adventure fic in terms of tropes - a goal, time constraint, romance subplot, but it's still good.
Anyway, it's only a cliche if it happens arbitrarily(by chance for an example), but lets say if someone sabotaged her textbook or some other shenanigans(with a reasonable cause-effect) are involved, it's okay.
>>815550 So, you're saying that Twilight screwing up a spell is some sort of our personal unoffical trope?
I would't necessarily call it 'sad'. I'd call it 'dark' and 'comedy', since your narrative style is jam packed with black humor.
I really love your writing. It really captures the reader and pulls them into the mind of the POV character. And when you switch POV characters, your transitions are flawless. This is truly one of the best fics I've read in a while.
Wow amazing, reminds me so much of when me and a friend merged are physical and mental forms into a single being, we even had the same hospital room number!
But seriously, jokes aside this is truly flawless can't wait for the next chapter keep up the good work.
The sad tag is there because of the nature of the story. Two ponies losing who they are individually and having to cope with the problems of having two minds in a single body. Overall, I don't find the story to really be sad for the most part, but there are some later chapters where things get a little... well... sad. As suggested under the guidelines, I'm letting people know ahead of time.
The question I have gotten the most of :D
The sad tag is included mostly for the overall theme of two ponies slowly losing their grip on reality (which I feel to be a little sad). It might be too harsh a tag, but the guidelines say I should let people know that it wont be sunshine all the way.
I think this is well-executed! As somepony mentioned earlier, many "Two minds, one body" premises have the two individual minds fighting for control. However, this seems more of a...realistic, for lack of a better term...view on how it might actually be, the confusing mish-mash inside the head.
I can't wait to see the rest. I'm definitely curious about the "hurt" mentioned by Twilight Dash in regards to Applejack, and figuring out which pony it's coming from, and the depth....
I was apprehensive coming into the story. I've been blown away. Awesome work!
I carefully considered my tagging options when I set forth with this work. While I am trying to include some humor (for without it we are truly lost) I don't know if comedy really fits here. I'm trying to play the story fairly strait, even if the situations are... odd. The dark tag to me usually implies something more (worse?) than sad (I always think horror when I see the dark tag, even though that's not usually the case) and felt it would give people the wrong idea about the story.
Sad was ultimately what I settled on, not happy but not really dark either; a middle ground as it were, which is what I best feel fits the intent of the story.
I'm really glad you enjoyed my work, thank you for the insightful comment :D
This is going to be a very curious story. Two minds sharing a body is nothing new, nor is the aspect of them being a muddled mess. However, them being the muddle minds of two nearly opposite mindsets and their collective consciousness being one will be interesting to see play out. This is very much like an aspect of ghost in the shell, where the question of maintaining one's individuality after being connected to a vast network is even possible. This story seems to be demonstrating the dark possibility of the minds melding, but bringing all the information they shared and smashing them together as tightly as possible. The consequences are as we've seen, where the new individual has to attempt to sift through the now massive store of information that has been collected, all while trying to cope with two conflicting minds trying to act as one. Whether or not they will be separated into two bodies again isn't as interesting as the thought that they may not even be the same beings once separated. Its very much possible that trying to separate would be like trying to separate two different colors of water after pouring them into one container. If you do it fast enough, you can still manage to retain predominantly one bit of color over the other, however, it would still be impossible to completely separate them, regardless of the length of time they have been combined. I'm very much interested to see what you do with this scenario, Starwin.
Also, to add to the notion of this being a sad fic, think about this for a moment:
If you were in their place, the very things that make you an individual would no longer be yours. Your very identity would be stripped away and slapped into some blender an combined into someone else. Sure, you would still be an individual, but you wouldn't be yourself anymore. You couldn't be.
Yeah, I'm sure my brain couldn't handle having two different people fighting for dominance inside my head. However, I just keep remembering Twilight's obsession with books at the beginning, and I think the trauma mad her forget about everything that happened after she left Canterlot. That's why she can't remember her name (RD is mixed in with her) or AJ's name.
>>838739 Well, and see that's exactly it. When I read this, I DO feel a very strong element of horror. There's a fine line between sad/tragedy and horror, and I feel like this story is straddling that line.
Completely your call though, I know it's not my place to say otherwise.
You certainly have an excellent point, this situation would be terrifying to whomever was experiencing it (in this case two characters and the audience ). To be honest , now I'm a little unsure how far this strays from the light, because your right, there is a very fine line between sad and horror. And we seem to be right edge if not belly-flopped across it entirely.
My Little Pony: Gestalt is Magic.
I absolutely love your your take on the consequences of and reactions to the incident.
For what it's worth, you get my fave. I cannot wait to see what happens next!
I cannot help but wonder how many "ancient evils awoken", "gateways to Tartarus/other dimensions opened", "failed teleportation experiments" Twilight performs before Celestia et al institutes and enforces a unicorn equivalent of OSHA.
If fannon is anything to go by, being Twilight's assistant during one of her magical "experiments" gives you the same life expectancy as a gerbil in a speed-bag filled with broken glass.
by Celestia, this is amazing!
the way you portrayed the fractal thoughts of Twilight Dash is absolutely brilliant, and pulled off perfectly. i really get a sense for the way that the two minds are battling to make sense of everything around them while slowly merging into a stable equilibrium of coherence inside a single brain. i can tell, the character development for this story is going to be wicked cool to see. it kind of reminds me of an old Calvin and Hobbes strip i read once...
very awesome, i look forward to seeing this story develop!
I probably would've gone with Rainbow Sparkle since it sounds nicer, but I guess Twilight Dash expresses the perception that Twilight seems to be the more evident of the two. And I suppose it also does a better job at implying that they're still two somewhat distinct individuals in one, while Rainbow Sparkle sounds like a perfect union.
Uh...
Mm... 
I don't know if I should read this anymore.
It's just so darn painful to hear someone reject you as a friend.
At the same time, it's painful for me to watch this consciousness get jumbled in her own conglomerate memories.
I think I'm thinking too hard again. This is making my thoughts do circles around themselves. 
i'm 16 
thank you 
my English teacher last year was the one who got me into Calvin and Hobbes. he would put strips up on the projector, then have us begin class by discussing the meaning and, on occasion, making connections between that and the book or play we were currently studying. after that, i started reading them on my own. he was also rather savvy about the Internet too. he obviously knew his way around the Net, and i have a supreme respect for that man and his class.
he was SO AWESOME! 
Reset Password
Resend Verification Email
2
6
0
Joined June 2012
16,775 ( 120,530 )
More
Less
Post Comment
Refresh
: "FINISH UP YOUR STUPID STORY, XAOS! OR AT LEAST DO THAT LAST CHAPTER OF OMAKE 3! ....
I just wanna see Dashie again..."
Image: http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/212/587/2667328774161692252111104.gif
Image: http://img.ponibooru.org/_images/fbf99ef9c18c6c52f5271f1dbc79c391/143074%20-%20artist%3Abriskby%20Discord%20jaw_drop.png
Image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Bztpc4mkor8/TAqdqXlSdmI/AAAAAAAAAao/4NFTZ46c4fs/s1600/Calvin%26HobbesPerspective.gif
Cancel
Send