It took Twilight until late that afternoon to prepare everything. What she was about to do was momentous, and more than a little frightening. She wanted to make sure that everything was handled exactly right. Mistakes would not be fatal, but they might cause problems; it was better to get everything correct on the first try. After all, Twilight thought, that's the whole point of checklists, right? They make sure that nothing is forgotten. Ponies might make fun of my methods, but they can't argue with my results.
The first thing Twilight had done that morning was organize her basement, which she had formally turned into her experimental magical laboratory. The room was no longer a temporary workspace; the magical changes she had made were now permanent. This would be the place where great discoveries were made and great things were accomplished – she just knew it! Twilight could feel the magic lingering in the air. The room had a good feeling about it, no matter what Rainbow Dash claimed.
Twilight put out the magical green fire that raged in the fireplace, and spent more than an hour organizing the contents of her two workbenches. All of the crystals were placed into orderly rows (sorted by color and size), and her expensive magical instruments was cleaned and repaired. A neat stack of blank books was placed on both tables, next to a row of brand-new inkwells and quills.
Once everything was in place, Twilight sat down at the workbench nearest the fireplace and picked up a blank book. After opening the comic and laying it in front of her she levitated a quill and began writing. It only took her a few minutes to create a blank world; merging the genetic material that she had prepared took a little bit longer than that. Twilight was pleased to see that the merge was a success. The comic told her that she had successfully created a new pony. That brought the first step to a close – and gave her something to check off her checklist.
I'll just stick with the basic body for now, she thought. I'd like to upgrade her body later but I'll let her take care of that. I'm sure she will know what to do once I bring her to life. After all, I'm going to give her my memories! She'll know everything about this experiment and she'll know what I'm trying to accomplish. She will be perfect.
The princess stared at the comic thoughtfully, then levitated a quill once more. This was the most important part of the process. Before she gave the pony her memories she had to define its personality. The character needed to have a foundation – a starting point – before it was given a mind. It was time to define who this pony was, what it wanted, and what her life was all about.
As Twilight began writing she felt a twinge of guilt. This part of the process somehow felt wrong. The pony she was creating was not going to get to choose what it wanted to be in life; instead she would be defined right from the start. She would have free will, but the only things she would ever want would be the things that Twilight wrote into her character. The pony would grow as time went on, but only in the ways that Twilight had already predefined. In a very real sense she would be limited – and Twilight was the one who put those limits in place.
But that's how it has to be, Twilight thought to herself. All fictional characters are like that! The author creates a character, and that pony then does whatever the author wants. It's how all books work. Characters don't get to define themselves! The only difference is that I now have the ability to reach into a comic and bring characters to life.
A feeling of doubt gnawed at Twilight. She tried to mentally push it away. I'm not doing anything wrong. After all, you could always make the argument that I'm actually adding life to them, not taking away their free will. Besides, the goal here is to create an assistant so I can make Equestria a better place – not to create a new race of mind-controlled slave ponies! I just need someone who can help me, that's all. Spike is great but he can't cast spells. This is the way it has to be.
Twilight cast her misgivings away and refocused on the blank book in front of her. All right. So what do I want in an assistant? Well, first of all, I want her to be supportive. This pony will always agree with me. She will always back me and will do everything in her power to help make my plans succeed. That's what assistants do, right? She will be completely loyal to me at all times, no matter what.
Twilight began writing. I've already given her magical talent; I'll also give her a love of magic and a love of study. Oh – and a love of reading and writing. If she's going to help me write books then she'll need that. It would also be great if she loved me and wanted to stay by my side; after all, if she moved away to Canterlot then she wouldn't be much of an assistant, would she? And let's make her a great friend, too. I'll give her my knowledge and love of friendship – although, truthfully, it might be better if she had Pinkie's knowledge of friendship. Pinkie is really good at making friends.
It didn't take Twilight very long to finish defining her character. After she finished writing, she reread the section three times to make sure she hadn't left anything out. Oh, wait – she also needs to be happy. Not just happy in general, but happy knowing who and what she is. I don't want her to turn out like Applejack and be all bitter about being, well, a fictional character. The last thing I need is an assistant who spends all her time whining about metaphysical issues that I can't fix. That's not the kind of help that I need.
Twilight made the final changes and then read the comic one last time. It's not like I'm trying to overwrite the personality of one of my friends. This is an entirely new pony that never existed before. It's just like writing a character in a book! It will be fine. It's a little weird, but that's only because nopony has ever done this before. There is nothing to worry about.
But the misgivings did not go away.
Twilight shook her head and put the quill down. Misgivings or not, she was going to do this; there was no going back. The princess lit up her horn and levitated a memory stone that she had prepared a few hours earlier. Twilight had considered implanting her entire mind into this new character, but she decided against it. She didn't want to make a clone of herself, because that would just get confusing. Instead she wanted to give this pony her knowledge of magic, her memories of Celestia, and the events of the past few days. She would know a lot about Twilight, but she wouldn't be Twilight. She wouldn't even look like Twilight. This pony would be her own character.
After Twilight copied the information from the stone and merged it into the comic, she gently set the stone back down onto the workbench. She then carefully read over the comic to make sure the magic had worked. Once she was certain that nothing had gone wrong, she lit up her horn one more time.
The comic began to glow and levitated off the table. As Twilight concentrated her mind on the newly-created book, there was a flash of light. The comic fell back down onto the workbench – and a white pony appeared a few feet away. This pony was a tall, white alicorn with a blue and pink mane and a long flowing tail. She looked exactly like Celestia.
Twilight clapped her front hooves together. “Excellent! I was hoping I could grab things out of the comics without actually going inside them. It worked!”
The white alicorn smiled. “Well, of course it did, Twilight! When do you ever fail? You have quite a track record of success. It's no wonder Celestia depends upon you so much.”
The newly-created pony extended a hoof to Twilight. “Call me Sunshine. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“Sunshine?” Twilight asked, confused. She cautiously touched her hoof against the one Sunshine had extended. “I don't recall giving you a name. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I left that out.”
Sunshine nodded. “I believe you did. But the name makes sense, doesn't it? After all, you created me to be a clone of your mentor Celestia. You wanted a version of her that was more to your liking, and so here I am. Celestia provides sunshine to the entire world; I was made to bring sunshine just to you. I am the friend that you always wanted – one created with quill, ink, and paper.”
“And you're ok with that, right? No hang-ups or worries?”
Sunshine laughed. “Yes, of course! In fact, I think that the way you made me is rather fantastic. Being created through magic opens up all sorts of possibilities. You've already considered giving me changeling DNA so I can morph into other shapes, haven't you? Things like that would not be possible if I was a normal pony.”
“That's right! I did think about it, and I'd like to try it once I can track down a changeling and get a sample of their mane. I thought it might be interesting to explore the limits of what's possible. We've never really had a chance to explore changeling magic before.”
“All sorts of things are possible now,” Sunshine commented. “And I will see to it that I take very good care of you. Your friends have really let you down, Twilight. That is one thing that I will never do.”
“Do you mean Applejack? I wouldn't say she let me down, exactly. It's more like I let her down. I don't blame her for being upset. She's just not comfortable with who she is.”
“She should be grateful to be alive. Not many ponies get a second chance at life. You did her a great favor! But I actually wasn't talking about Applejack specifically. I was talking about all of your friends. Have you forgotten what they did to you at Cadence's wedding? You were convinced that something was wrong with Cadence, and you were absolutely right. Cadence had been replaced by a changeling that was intent on destroying Equestria. But none of your friends believed you. Every single one of them walked away. When you needed your friends most, they weren't there. They were terrible friends.”
“But they apologized afterward,” Twilight pointed out. “I don't blame them for not believing me. My theory was sort of hard to believe.”
“You are too kind, Twilight. You really should blame them. If your friends won't stand by your side when things grow difficult then they're not very good friends at all! In all your other adventures the danger has always been obvious. There was no need for them to trust you when Tirek was going around stealing magic from everypony. Cadence's wedding was the one time when your friends should have trusted you – but when that moment came you discovered that none of them actually did. Your friends have proven that they do not trust you, Twilight. They will not be there for you if something like that happens again – but I will. I will be the friend that they should have been.”
“They're really not all bad,” Twilight insisted. “Really.”
Sunshine shook her head. “I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know. After all, you gave me your memories. You have to face up to the fact that your friends are flawed. They're imperfect in ways that are dangerous. You've already noticed this – I know you have. There are things about them that you would like to change, but you feel bound to leave them the way they are. But look at what's possible now! I realize you are focused on fixing Equestria and making it a better place, but why bother? Do you not see that you can create much better worlds with ink and quill?”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it. In this world there will always be pain and suffering. Ponies will do things that hurt you; they will fail and let you down. There will be hunger, disease, and death. There will be tragedies and monsters and all sorts of horrible disasters. But you can create a better world – in fact, you can create perfect worlds. Using ink and quill you can create worlds that are exactly the way you want them to be, and you can live in them forever. You can create a world that will never know hunger or disease or pain. You can create worlds without hardship or poverty.”
Sunshine gestured at the comic book that held her character definition. “Look at what you've already done! You've created one perfect pony and brought her into this world – but you don't have to stop there. You can do so much more. You can create an entire world full of perfection and then live there. You can create new versions of your friends – perfect versions that are without flaws, and who actually appreciate everything you do for them. You have already created me to be an improved version of Celestia; you can do the same with the others. You can have everything that you ever wanted – and so can all the other ponies in Equestria. Everypony can have all their dreams come true. That will never be possible in this world, but it will be possible in the new worlds that you and I can write.”
“It's very tempting,” Twilight said slowly. “Really, it is. I'm just not sure what Celestia would think of that.”
Sunshine walked over to Twilight and put a wing around her. “Celestia doesn't care about you, Twilight. Stop and think about it. How many times has she put you in mortal danger while she stayed behind in her castle, safe and sound? How many times have you needed her when she hasn't been there? You have helped her so many times, but when has she ever helped you? Has she been there to comfort you when you were sad, or to encourage you when you were discouraged? When you went to the Crystal Empire to rescue the crystal ponies from Sombra, Celestia didn't even bother to go with you. Instead of taking the situation seriously and doing everything in her power to safeguard the lives of those thousands of innocent ponies, she used the whole thing as a test – and nearly got everypony killed.”
“You have a point,” Twilight admitted.
“You need to forget about Celestia. I've replaced her and I am better than her in every way. I love you very dearly, Twilight, and I will watch over you and protect you. Don't worry about Celestia's disapproval. There is nothing she can do to stand against us. I'll see to that.”
“Thanks,” Twilight replied.
Sunshine kissed her. “That's what I'm here for. So where would you like to begin? I can see that you have a lot of work to do.”
Twilight sighed. “That's the problem! I have way too much to do. I need to document my findings, and I need to develop a way to give Applejack wings. There's also the issue that the magical technique I'm using to create these enchanted comics is too difficult for most unicorns to even attempt. I need to find a simpler approach.”
“You also need to create copies of your friends,” Sunshine added. “In fact, why don't you start with that? You still have a little time left this afternoon; you could use it to go get some memory stones. You already have Applejack's mind stored in that stone over there, so you don't need to worry about her. When Rainbow Dash comes by with Applejack tomorrow morning you can copy her memories. Then after Applejack's upgrade you can go to Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity and copy them. You could easily be done by the afternoon.”
“Copy them? Why would I want to do that?”
“To save them, of course! You and I are alicorns; we're going to live for a very long time. Your friends, though, have much shorter lifespans. You need to copy their memories now so that you can recreate them after they're gone. Besides, once you have their memories you can put them in comics and improve them.”
“Like I did with you,” Twilight replied. “I guess that makes sense. Only when I made you I gave you Celestia's body and my memories.”
Sunshine nodded. “Do you see how your magic opens up new possibilities? Now, I'm sure that you'll eventually want to copy the memories of other ponies as well, so they can also be preserved. There's your brother, and Cadence, and Luna, and so many more. But that's something we can deal with later. While you're out collecting memories, I'll find a way to upgrade Applejack. Then I can invent a better way to create these enchanted comics – one that is accessible to ponies who aren't unicorns at all.”
“Is that possible?”
“Of course! All things are possible. Just give me some time. We want to give everypony the ability to create whatever worlds they desire. I am certain that we can find a way to do exactly that.”
“You're very optimistic,” Twilight commented.
“I'm confident. I can tell that we're going to make a great team. I see wonderful things in our future.”
Twilight nodded. “All right, then. I guess I'd better go and get those memory stones before the supply store closes. Is there anything else you need?”
“There is one more thing. Before you go it might be a good idea for you to introduce me to Spike. After all, I'm going to be living here with you from now on. Spike probably needs to know that I exist and that I'm going to be a big part of your life.”
Twilight looked surprised. “Wait, what? You're going to be living here? With me? In this castle?”
“Of course! Where did you think I was going to live? Now, you don't need to worry about anything. I know this castle has overwhelmed you, but I can fix that. I'm going to take charge of this place and manage it for you. We'll add some guards to protect you, and we will also add staff to keep this place clean and organized. I'll handle all of that. With me to take care of all those household chores, you will be free to focus on all the important things that you care so much about.”
“Staff? Guards? Isn't all that going to be expensive?”
Sunshine laughed. “Of course not, silly! I'll just write them into existence. Now that we can create things with magic, nothing is expensive. We could fill this castle with solid gold furnishings if that's what you wanted. Twilight, this is exactly why you need a friend who is your equal and who can take care of you. There are so many possibilities that you've never considered. I'll just move in to the big empty bedroom that's across the hall from your room – and don't worry; I'll furnish it myself. I promise I'll never be far away.
“You have been alone for so long, Twilight. None of your friends really understand you. They can't relate to who you are or what you've been going through. But you don't have to be alone anymore! You have a friend now – someone who is like you and who truly understands you.”
“This is all moving really fast,” Twilight said uncertainly. “I thought I was just getting an assistant, but now you're going to live with me, and hire guards, and get staff, and everything is changing. I mean, all of these things are good and all, but I just didn't see any of this coming. To be honest I thought you'd be more like Spike. I never imagined you would turn into my sister.”
Sunshine hugged Twilight. “There's no need to panic. Everything is going to be fine; I'm here to help you and make your dreams come true, remember? You wanted help and you got it. Your life is about to become radically better.”
Sunshine let go of Twilight and looked around. “Spike is probably upstairs, right?”
Twilight nodded. “That's right. I'm sure you know this castle as well as I do, even though you're less than an hour old. Here – come with me. Let me introduce you to him.”
* * * * *
The two alicorns found Spike in the map room. The young dragon was seated on his throne, deeply engrossed in a comic book. When Twilight saw him she smiled. “Hello there, Spike! Reading more about the Power Ponies, are you? Didn't you get enough of that when you lived the experience?”
Spike glanced up. When he saw Sunshine he immediately put the comic book down and got out of his throne. “Oh, hello there, Celestia! I didn't hear you come in. Is there anything I can do for you?”
Sunshine laughed. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Spike! No need to worry – I'm not actually Celestia. I'm just a copy of her that Twilight created in order to help her do her research. The real Princess Celestia is in Canterlot.”
Spike looked confused. “You're a copy of Celestia? Wait a minute. Twilight can do that?”
“She certainly can! In fact, she can do all sorts of things now. Twilight has invented a new type of magic that has the potential to change the world. She can now create anything that she wants. The big thing that she wants right now is help, so she created me to serve as her magical assistant.”
“She needs help? But what about me? I'm her number one assistant! She never needed other help before. Well, except for that owl of hers, I guess.”
Twilight spoke up. “You are a great assistant, Spike, and I could never replace you – and I don't want to replace you, either. But how good are you at casting magical spells?”
“Not very good, I guess. I am a dragon, after all. Our magic is very different from pony magic.”
“Exactly. In order to get everything done in time I need an assistant who can help me with my research – someone who knows a lot about pony magic. I need a different kind of help than what you can provide, so that's why I made Sunshine.”
“'Sunshine'?” Spike echoed. “So, that's your name, huh? Man, but just wait until Celestia gets a load of this! She is not going to be happy.”
“She will be fine,” Sunshine assured him. “Celestia will pay us a visit next week and I'll explain the situation to her at that time. There is no need to worry about it.”
“Next week? You mean you're not going to tell her until then? I mean, I'm not trying to tell you your business or anything, but don't you think that word is going to get out that Celestia now has a twin? How are you going to keep this a secret?”
“I'm not. Why would I try to hide? But I'm also not going to write a letter to Celestia and explain it, either. If Celestia becomes curious about me then she can write to us and ask, or she can simply stop by. If that happens I'll handle it. If she doesn't then I'll simply talk to her whenever I see her.”
“I guess that makes sense. So is there anything I can do to help?”
“There certainly is,” Twilight announced. “I need to go buy some more memory stones for some magical work that I have in mind. Do you think you can help me with that?”
“Sure! So what about you, Sunshine? Is there anything that you need? I take it you're going to start living here, right?”
Sunshine nodded. “That's right! I'm going to move into the bedroom that's across from Twilight. I'll handle all of those arrangements, though. You should just focus on taking care of Twilight and getting her whatever she needs. All right?”
“Absolutely! So, Twilight, are you ready to go?”
“You bet, my number one assistant,” Twilight replied.
Sunshine smiled as the two left the map room. She then back headed downstairs and got to work.
* * * * *
That evening Twilight was in her room getting ready for bed. It had been a long day and she was tired – in fact, it had been a long week, for that matter. Twilight was sitting on a stool in front of her mirror while Sunshine combed out her mane. The two ponies were talking over the events of the afternoon.
“You know, I can start putting Spike to bed every night if you want,” Sunshine remarked. “It's not a problem.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I don't mind doing it. Really. It means a lot to him.”
“I understand – I just wanted to offer. I know how much you care about him. Spike has been a loyal friend. I know he cares about you and would do anything for you.”
Twilight nodded. “Just like you, I guess. I know I said this earlier, but I was really impressed at all the work you did this afternoon. I think your plan is going to work just fine. We shouldn't have any problem giving Applejack a nice, strong pair of wings.”
Sunshine smiled. “It is a true joy to help you! That's why I'm here. You know, if we had a sample of Rainbow Dash's mane we could probably go ahead and make the changes to the comic now. There's no need for Applejack to physically be here; everything that we're going to do has to be done to her book definition. Since we don't have a mane sample from Rainbow, though, we'll have to wait until morning.
“Speaking of that, Twilight, you need to remember to collect genetic material from your friends when you go get a copy of their minds. We're going to need it in order to reproduce them.”
Twilight nodded. “That's true! I'd forgotten about that. I guess I'll also need to create a vault to store all these things. It will need to be a secure, dry place. I'll put in it the memory stones, the mane samples, and all the comics that we're going to write. I don't want anything to happen to your book definition – or any of the worlds that we end up making, for that matter.”
“Why don't you make that your personal project?” Sunshine asked. The white alicorn finished combing Twilight's mane and set the brush down on the vanity. “I'll take care of writing the book that explains the technique you developed. I already know how you planned on simplifying the spells – I have your memories, you know – and I can research that. You can plan for the future while I focus on the needs of the present.”
“Thanks. I feel a lot better knowing you are here. I really needed help.”
Sunshine wrapped one of her large wings around Twilight. “I'll always be right here by your side, Twilight. I promise. For years you've needed somepony to look out for you, and nopony has ever taken that role. Celestia should have been there for you, but she was too preoccupied with her own life to notice the things that you needed. But I'm here now and you don't need to worry about anything. In the morning when Applejack and Rainbow Dash come over you can help them, and then you and Spike can go out to collect minds. I'll handle everything else.”
“Thanks,” Twilight said. She stretched, and then yawned. “Well, I think I'll go to bed. I'll see you in the morning.”
Sunshine smiled at her. “Goodnight, Twilight. Tomorrow's a big day.”
Twilight climbed into bed. “Goodnight, Sunshine.”
Sunshine kissed Twilight's forehead, then turned out the light and closed the bedroom door behind her.
Twilight was finally at peace. She had a watchful protector now, and she somehow knew that everything was going to be all right. After all, who needs real friends when you can just make them up yourself? Fantasy is so much better than reality, she thought happily. Sunshine is much better than Celestia – and she will never leave me.
Twilight then fell asleep – the first genuinely restful sleep she'd had since Applejack died.