A Princess
In the library of Canterlot’s castle, there was a flash. Twilight appeared within it, disheveled, dirty, and gaunt. Celestia was already there, seemingly waiting for her. She turned to look at the panicked alicorn, who immediately started crying.
“P-princess, what’s wrong with meee?” Twilight cried.
Celestia walked slowly toward Twilight, wings slightly stretched out wide to indicate the middle of the day. She walked up next to the messy Twilight and wrapped a wing around her. She pulled her in close. “Nothing is wrong with you, Twilight, dear.”
“I’m not the same Twilight I was! I think I know the same things, but… but… Spike said… and I’m not made of… of… of pony!” She put her face in her hooves and sobbed, then rubbed vigorously and looked up at Celestia. The older alicorn beamed down at her. Like the sun, Twilight thought, and then giggled uncontrollably. When she finally calmed down, she took a deep breath. “Celestia, did I die?”
Celestia’s eyes blinked closed slowly. The same generous smile stayed on her face as she answered. “You did.”
Twilight felt a flash of terror. “Then… then I’m not Twilight?”
“You are Twilight. As much Twilight as you ever were.”
Twilight made a pained face. “But that’s not how it works! If I’m just a copy of Twilight, then I’m not the same pony, am I?”
“Do you think it’s a big difference?”
“Of course it is! If I… I mean… if Twilight d-d-d…” Twilight choked on her tears.
“Died?”
“If she died, then everything she was, everything she was going to be… every hope, dream, and aspiration… they’re all gone! Everything everypony loved about Twilight, everything they wanted to see her become is gone!”
Celestia closed her eyes again. When she opened them, they glittered strangely. “Has anypony noticed?”
Twilight thought back to the way her friends had acted. How none of them really seemed to notice that there was a difference, and if there was, they didn’t care. The only one that really cared was Spike, who said he was the problem to begin with.
“Spike has.”
“It was Spike who wanted it the most.”
“But why? I’m not Twilight. He knows that. He’s always known. She’s…”
“Dead.”
“Yes.”
“You… or Twilight, I should say, were his mother. Nopony wants to see their mother die. Twilight felt the same way about her mother, and I’m sure other ponies all feel the same. He had no direction. Nopony to turn to. No protector or caregiver. It’s a terrible way to live, wouldn’t you agree?”
“I would.”
“Being as young as he is, and seeing his mother die, Spike wished for her to come back. I can’t raise a pony from the dead, of course, but I can create things. In all my time as Twilight’s teacher, I knew her better than anypony. I knew her brother, since he was in the royal guard, and I knew her parents. I watched her grow, and I watched her learn, and I watched her change. So I gave him what I could.” She looked at Twilight. “You.”
“But I’m not Twilight Sparkle.”
“No, you’re not.”
Actually hearing the words spoken by Celestia hit her hard. She sat down heavily. “What am I?”
“A reasonable facsimile. A simulacrum. A doppelganger, if you will.”
“But not Twilight.”
“Do you feel like Twilight?”
She thought about it. She had all the memories, and new ones besides. She had all the friends and family, and none of them noticed or seemed to care.
“Yes,” she finally said.
“Then maybe it doesn’t matter, does it?” Celestia laughed lightly. “What do you feel like doing, now that you know?”
“I feel… nothing.”
“Then maybe it’s time you start figuring yourself out, isn’t it? Knowing what you know about Twilight Sparkle, how do you feel about her? She is your closest friend, whether you admit it or not. You know her better than anypony else.”
“I feel like she is… was… a good pony. A pony who wanted to help others”
“And what have you been doing all this time?”
“…helping others.”
“Do you think that because you’re an echo of Twilight, that it makes your actions less valid?”
“I… don’t know.”
“Why do you think they wouldn’t be?”
“Because I’m just a copy of Twilight! I’m not Twilight! I don’t have any desires of my own!”
“Don’t you?” Celestia pulled Twilight closer and leaned down. “What are you doing right now?”
“Trying to understand if I’m Twilight or not!”
“Do you think Twilight ever questioned that?”
Twilight stopped. “Maybe?” She searched through all her (or Twilight’s) memories. She found Twilight questioning her skills, but not her identity. “No,” she finally admitted.
“Then maybe you’ve finally grown up enough to start doing that, haven’t you?”
Twilight sniffled and looked up. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that if you’re finally accepting that you’re not Twilight, then you can finally accept that and become yourself, can’t you?”
“Can I?” Twilight said bitterly. “I have all these ponies depending on me to be who they think I am. If I change suddenly, won’t that make things harder on them? Won’t they then be distraught, knowing they lost a loved one? I mean, it’s bad knowing you’re not who you think you are, but they all think Twilight’s alive!”
“Isn’t she?”
“No! She died curing her friend’s cutie mark problems that she caused! Now I’m here to pretend I’m her so they don’t get sad!”
“Do you think that’s not worth doing?”
“It’s a lie! I’m lying to my friends!” Twilight stamped a hoof.
“Your friends? Not Twilight’s friends?”
“No! I mean, yes! They’re my friends too, not just Twilight’s!”
“So you have friends?”
Twilight looked away. “I don’t know. They don’t know me.”
“You’ve known them for as long as Twilight, haven’t you?”
“Have I?” She had. The idea that she’d known everypony in Twilight’s life for that long was disturbing to her. “But I was Twilight.”
“You remembered Twilight, but you weren’t her. You said it yourself. All the decisions you made since that day weren’t Twilight’s dreams, weren’t Twilight’s decisions. They were yours.”
“But…”
“Do you want to hurt your friends?”
“No.”
“Do you want to hurt Twilight’s friends?”
“…no.”
“And in all the time you’ve been living your life and making your decisions, have you done so?”
“A few times.”
“And how did you fix that?”
“I… apologized.”
“Do you think your existence is something to apologize for?”
“No.”
“Then do what you’ve always done and make your own decisions. Live how you want, like you’ve been doing, and be who you can be for your friends. They think you’re Twilight, and in many ways you are, but that doesn’t mean your existence is invalidated.”
Twilight stood there in silence. Celestia stood, waiting for her to come to some decision. She was patient, and Twilight still wondered if she was like her. Maybe someday she would ask, but not right now. Right now she had to figure herself out.
There was silence for quite some time. Not even Celestia moved. A bookshelf creaked and the sounds of a guard’s hooves passed the door out front. Twilight sat in frustrated silence, thinking about herself.
Twilight finally stood. She looked up at Celestia. “Thank you for talking, Princess. I know what I’m going to do.”
Celestia nodded. “I know you do. Whatever decision you make, I encourage it.”
Twilight gave her a small smile. “Thank you.” With a flash, she was gone.
Twilight appeared back in her castle. She called for Spike. “Spike! Are you here?”
His feet came running down the hall. He was carrying a washcloth wet with soapy water. “Twilight? Are you alright?”
Twilight said nothing. She just hugged him close, ignoring the damp rag in his claws. After a moment of confusion, he hugged her back. “Are you alright, Twilight?” he asked.
“I’m fine, Spike. And I’m sorry. I’m not Twilight, but I’d like to help. Is that okay?”
“I’m sorry. You’re my fault. I was upset.”
“It’s okay. I have friends, and I have you and the Princess. It may not be something I chose, but I can live with it. I have to live with it. Ponies are depending on me. I need to be up to the challenge.”
“I’ll help. I can do that much, at least.”
“Thank you, Spike. She’s gone, but she’s not lost, right? We both remember her and what she left us.”
“Yeah…” Spike started shaking in her hooves. Twilight held him tight until her own body started quaking. They cried, but they cried together. They had each other, and that was enough for now.
The End.
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What is wrong with this fandom and murdering Twilight in season 3? The story was good. But what happened wasn't original.
Though Celestia's idea here is.
9226966
It's a very clear turning point in the story of My Little Pony. The imagery and the experience are also easy to interpret as a metaphor for death and rebirth, not unlike Gandalf.
When messing with an ancient, unfinished spell, Twilight disappears in a magical explosion. She sees a pony all in white (an angel?), her life flashes before her eyes, and she goes into the light.
9226966
"What is wrong with this fandom"-I ask myself that question quite often.
I'll check out this tale. Seems interesting
9226966
Part of it is also people not wanting to accept that the original twilight is the same character as the Twilicorn
Goes from dark to light hearted, I really enjoy the unique twist of a non-entity experiencing self-awareness and acceptance. An excellent way to teach us who we are or who we can be, regardless of our origins.
9227004
That kind of denial always annoyed me, then again I think the way they went around having her ascend was done poorly, though I blame Hasbro more for that than DHX.
Interesting idea i do hope you going more with it
Like the clone? Android(smart robot) whatever become more unique more deistic if i used the right word from twlight. Its wrong to just make a copy of some one and then force said copy to be that person abd never let them be thier own being
so whats up with her body giving out after a week away and how did that work out between the ascension and tirek?
9227203
The treebrary had computer bits put in it by Celestia, then it all got nuked and the Tree of Harmony had to do something fast. So the Crystal Castle was built.
9227027
I'm with you on it could have been done better. But I blame that on it being condensed into 30, instead of 60, minutes.
9227254
Also the fact that it's ultimately a show targeted at kids and their parents, not males between the ages of 15-30. That fact meant the show couldn't explore some avenues that would be too advanced for younger viewers.
9227240
so what about the week away thing then, was that recharge or some maintenance detail?
9227383
It's meant to be a need to charge, to keep her coming back to Ponyville.
A good story, but was far too short. There was plenty of ways this could have done, and to be honest I would have prefered it going much deeper in terms of plot. It could have gone much darker if Twilight had a much more negative reaction to it.
Everything is a lie after all, she merely inherited Twilights memories. Her body is a marvel of magic and technology, but not without its own unique quirks. There is also the issue that Twilight know's Celestia kept resetting her, wiping her memory, and she's ok with that? That's downright dark manipulation for a princess that preaches harmony. Would be interesting to see Twilight unravelling more than her truth and the rest of the skeletons in Celestia's closet.
9227876
I won't disagree. There's a lot left unexplained, but Twilight is, after all, the princess of friendship. She was made that way. She reconciled with Spike, but that's really it. She acquiesced to Celestia's statements, but she didn't reconcile everything with her, nor her friends, or her family. She just made up with Spike. This only goes to that point, and I agree there's a lot left to discuss. I may elaborate later.
Basic
Hmm This brings out a quite interesting question... It's like the problem with the Star Trek Teleporter... You get disintegrated in some place and then get reconstructed somewhere else... Are you the same person or a copy of that person? Here you have fundamentally the resurrection of a person...
9228088 This "paradox" is solved with one of the most basic concepts of logic. You are teleported. This deconstructs you, and reconstructs you somewhere else. You can attempt to argue that the person on the other side is not you, but an exact copy, but this argument has no legs to stand on. The law of identity kills it.
The alleged copy of you on the other side of the teleport is an exact copy of you. Exact. There is no difference other than location. Every atom is in the same place, every spark of energy is right where it was a moment before. You are A. The Copy is B. A = A and B = B. Howeaver, there is no difference between A and B. A = B. Therefore, you didn't die, you're still alive, you merely moved. The "copy" is still you under the most basic laws of logic. You're fine, even if you really did disintegrate because any exact duplicate by definition must also be you.
9228452
The fundamental flaw with your argument is that you first must prove that the principle of identity is applicable. This is naturally impossible to prove as the topic is both fictional and exceeds our collective understanding of both life and consciousness. Applying identity to this situation is the logical equivalent of assuming the conclusion, and is not a valid form of reasoning.
9228536 I must disagree. If you can't apply logic and reason to fictional situations, then the entire realm of philosophy breaks down due to it's reliance on hypothetical situations exactly like teleportation explain ideas and concepts. Or do you think Zeno of Elea fired an actual arrow to give people a demonstration the Arrow paradox to show people his take on the impossibility of motion due to the nature of time as discrete moments?
If you truly feel that logic has no place in fiction I will not argue with you as we wont get anywhere. Good day.
9228548
Oh, you can apply logic, certainly. For example, it is an axiom of life that, once ended, it cannot be restored. Thus, logically, the destruction of a living organism is the cessation of that life, even if another isomorphic organism is created elsewhere. Same situation, different conclusion.
The problem I named wasn't that you can't use logic. It was that you could choose what the conclusion is based on which axioms, which principles, you decide to give priority. And because you can choose what the conclusion is, trying to justify that conclusion as "the logical solution" is a violation of the rigor and philosophy that makes logical thought so valuable.
9227396
Though now that she knows she needs to recharge, she can design portable battery crystals to keep her going on extended forays.
9227968
I'd read a sequel, if it was written.
9227968
your right a lot of things need to be explained
9228088
Ultimately, it boils down to the question of identity, and how it's constructed. In particular, how the human idea of identity has developed almost entirely along the lines of one identity = one physical person/brain. Variations on this (secret identities, shared identities, multiple personalities, corporate and other non-individual legal entities) tend to be treated as weird, strange, something to be handled differently to the norm.
This was a neat read. A bit short, but good.
9228452
Well then what happens when instead of destroying the original we just create the destination?
9228632
i don't think axiom means what you think it does.
an axiom is a statment of truth based apon wisdom
so basically a statement that is collectively held to be true
for example 'tis beter to have loved and lost' is an axiom
another would be and fitingly for this situation
I think therefore i am.
9229554
this is a beutifull and thought provokeing little tale
i would be interested to see if this twilight choses to tell her 'friends' the truth...how would they react i wonder
and then theres the question of how twilight died...if events played out in the story cannon as they did in the show then it was a result of the backlash from the elements when they were all restored...and if the scene from the show still holds cannon here though the remane five dont know it, twilight was content in her last moments...her expression softened and there was a gentel smile on her face
9229554
also did you just change your avatar and your description...
i feel like it said something else a couple hours ago but my memory can be spoty at times
9229599
Nay, it's been the same for a while now.
and to anyone out there who thinks this isnt quite 'horror' ...theres a sub genre called 'body horror' which is just what it sounds like, its horror either internal to a charicter or external to the viewer caused by an unnatural condition of the flesh, be it benign or destructive in nature if you've ever read FoE: project horizens, the main charicters reactions to the shit that happens to her flesh during the course of the adventure falls into that too.
remember horror doesnt always have to be scarry, horror is about allowing one to expearince some form of dread, it doesnt always need to come to a bad end either...theres a saying about horror always having sad endings, but its not actualy true.
but all of the best horror stories will leave you thinking, and considering your own point of view long after the final line has been read.
That was some shady crap! I'm glad to see it ended well, but still - all the cutting and realizing what she is/isn't was so disturbing... I hate it.
I love it!
9229578
That definition is actually a little narrow. The whole "based upon wisdom" thing is extremely problematic. Generally speaking, people don't agree on what wisdom is, and the deeper you get into pure logic the less "wisdom" has anything to do with anything.
An axiom, simply, is a statement that is defined to be true. The dictionary defines the term as "a proposition that is assumed without proof for the sake of studying the consequences that follow from it." Notably, that means that axioms do not need to be justified, save for being proven to be independent from all other axioms. That's why I made the point that actually studying the topic at hand is not possible -- we have no choice but to make assumptions, to create those foundational axioms, and doing so dictates the conclusions we draw.
9230016
and yet is not everything we do in life just makeing asumptions, educated though they may be.
i can say the sun will rise in the morning...and i can say that with 99 percent certainty....and yet...i could very well be wrong
the world may tidaly lock at some point tonight and the sun will never move in the sky again, or it could just go out, or something could block our view of it
what is true, what is known is a mater of perceptions, not facts...as a result yes you can break down 'alot' from a fictional work
half the fandom is deadicated to doing just that, which is why a great number of the most popular bronies are analysts.
so yeah, argueing stuff like you are is going to get you booed out of rooms fast here dude, cause it doesnt jibe well with us.
but eh, whatever, your view is yours, my view is mine
love and tollerate and all that jaz.
ps: you know also that you can just invoke the word of god if theres an idea in the story you want to know more about, further damaging your point [if you dont know word of god is tropespeak it means asking the author]
Fantastic work!
9226980
For what it's worth Tolkien's work is basically a constructed mythology and Gandalf is practically a lesser divine being. In that context death and rebirth have a bit more to do with physical embodiment than anything else. It isn't like he evaporated and somebody reconstructed him from the memories and recollections of others.
P.S.
Story is sort of interesting but seems a tad cliche and handwaves the serious questions.
9230049
What are you even talking about? I critiqued someone's poor construction of logical argument. That's not in any way part of a philosophical debate on the use of rigor in daily life.
9228452
But does the original person die when it is disintegrated? When the exact copy is made, does it still have the same soul? Can you copy a soul or is it unique? Is every copy after the first teleportation an empty soulless shell? Even though it shares the same morals, do those affect the soul in any way any more?
9230205
It's completely different to this fiction, though, as Olórin was of the maiar, basically an angel, that just lost its corporeal form as Gandalf and had to make a new one.
To the author: the fic was a nice read, and that's a pretty rare praise from me because I usually shy away from horror stories. Unfortunately I must add that as interesting as the fic was, the comments section is even more interesting.
This story has a very interesting premise, but honestly, it’s needs proofreading. There is a typo in the short description, Twilight’s name is spelled wrong in one of the first few paragraphs and the entire flow feels very rushed and fast paced. It reads like a list.
“This happened, then this happened, then this happened.” Etc. It’s jumping so quickly to get to the plot that there’s no nuance or time to get sucked into the story. This sounds like an amazing concept but I couldn’t get past the first few paragraphs to see it because it reads very poorly.
I recommend a proofreader. Not trying to be an ass, just trying to help.
Short, interesting, and to the point. As all good works should be.
I've not read a story like this before, but the sci-fi/horror spin it has to it was very interesting. Well done. :)
9230746
You are correct. It does. The stories I post here do not get proofread as they are designed and written entirely in my spare time for fun. Some come out better than others, and I'm sure if I did take the time to proofread them, they would be much better, but, time is limited, and I'm just trying to share some entertainment. Thank you for the criticism. I do not take offense.
This reads like the first few chapters of something that could become really interesting.
This was really good. Not only that, but it helped me with something as well.
This was different for me, and original. Thank you for writing this story.
And that one is going on the favorites shelf. Quick question though: where THE F
DID CELESTIA GET F
ING NANOBOTS!?!?!?!?!?
9228452
That’s not set in stone. What if the teleporter merely scanned you non-destructively at the origin point and created a clone at the other end? This clone would cease to be you almost instantly, because it would have divergent experiences and memories from your own. You can walk around and interact with your copy and perceive each other as being two different people. How is it that if we destroy the original person at the origin point, this would miraculously make them perceive the same qualia as the copy at the destination point, but if we leave them intact, the copy becomes a separate person with their own experiences? A simple explanation for this is that destructive scanning breaks continuity of consciousness. In other words, if we destroy the original person, their inner experience and sense of qualia will cease to be at that point in time. Everything will go black. Somewhere else, a copy with their memories, like Donald Davidson’s proverbial Swampman, flashes into existence. It interacts with the original’s friends and personal effects, but it cannot be said to truly recognize them because it has never actually thought of them before, having only sprung into existence moments ago.
Hmm. Seems to bring up some of the same sorts of philosophical questions as Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow or to a lesser extent by Friendship is Optimal by Iceman and some of its many spinoffs...
9233540
Or Death and Life Together by Foals Errand. Same basic plot: Twilight dies during ascension, Celestia created a new body for her "soul" to live on in.