What Would You Do if Faced With This Choice?

[Feather Gem 967]

So, based on a fanfiction I'm writing, I need to know what you would do as a real person.

Now, here's the question.

 

 

One day, you die.

And when you wake up, everything around you looks like the pony world.  (you're a brony, you know)  And when you look down at your hands, you have purple hooves.  Next thing you know, you're staring at yourself in the mirror.  Staring at Twilight Sparkle in the mirror.

You're told that your whole life was a lie.  All those years of your life as a human?  A dream.  All those people you loved, who loved you?  Your imagination.  Nothing was real.  Nothing.  The only thing that was ever real was that show you watched, MLP: FiM.  That place you could only dream of visiting.

Well, know you're here.

So you're supposed to be Twilight Sparkle.  You're supposed to be an element of magic.  You're supposed to be a princess.  You're supposed to know so much magic, something about everything, how to save Equestria from the very pony who made you fall into that dream of being a human.

You don't remember anything from being Twilight.  You've seen the show, but you've never seen it all happen from your own eyes.  You can't do the magic Twilight could do.

But then, after months of horrible miserableness, of rejection, betrayal, pain, and wondering if any of this is even real, you're faced with a choice to make.

 

One:

You forget you're whole fake life as a human.

You can remember everything about being Twilight Sparkle to fill up the empty space.

You can make everything right.  You can make Twilight's friends happy, you can save Equestria from the pony who made you dream of being someone else.

Yes, it's just like going back to normal.  Placing everything back in its place.

But still.  There's that catch.

If you do this, it would be like killing yourself and allowing Twilight to live.  Because despite what everypony says, you're not Twilight.  You aren't.  So if you do this, then you'll lose yourself completely.  At least, you're new self.  But are you willing to let that whole life go?

What's more, as the pony you are now, you've given some ponies happiness.  You've given Discord another friend, an immortal one.  You've given Pinkie Pie a friend that will always stay by her side, without a moment of doubt.  You've given Fluttershy a pony who understands what its like to not belong, to be alone.

And you know...m-maybe there's another way?

But...you have to be Twilight.  You have to be like her.  Willing to sacrifice for Equestria.

Even if it costs you everything.

 

Two:

Pretty simple.  You don't do number one.

You keep your memories.  Despite how nothing was real, despite the pain it brings to think of it...

It was your world.  It was your life.  It means so much to you, just to be you.  You just aren't Twilight anymore.  You're different.  And you don't want to be somepony else.  You want to be you.  You want to be able to secretly like-like Discord even though you'd never let it get anywhere, you want to know you could draw if you're magic was better, you want to know you're an amazing writer, you want to know you understand Fluttershy, you want to know that you'd never doubt Pinkie Pie.

You want to be you.

Because those memories mean something to you.

Maybe...maybe if you try...maybe there's another way to make everything right again without having to lose yourself.

 

While you think of your answer, pretend Twilight (you) are singing this to Pinkie Pie, the only pony who has stuck by you the whole time.

 

(There is no 'other' option)

(Do not just answer the poll, explain your reason)

 

[XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 777]

          It's a complicated situation for one to go through, there's so many factors which come into play that affect the possibilities of what can and can't be. To go through a life completely to only find out that it was all made up would be incredibly heartbreaking, to know those whom you loved and knew were possibly figments of your imagination.

 

          My friends, family, the ones I lived with and all the collective experiences though are impossible to completely forget. Everything which I collectively gained through that 'dream world' would be the very foundation of how I would act and interpret this new world around me. Shock, awe, paranoia, distraught, bitterness, depression, happiness, joy, anger, rage, and many more emotions would consume me in light of finding out that everything I believed as true was a lie. But the bigger question is how can I be sure that this new reality, the one being Twilight Sparkle, was genuinely real? The only way is through the support of my friends.

 

          Lets go with the theory that my friends, Rarity, AppleJack, FlutterShy, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Owlicious, Celestia, Shining Armor, Cadence and so fourth, weren't there to help me throughout those long months. I know that at first I would be consumed by my distraught of this new reality, that a world in which I believed to be fiction was fact AND to boot I'm T.S. I'm a man of fact and analyzation: I believe in that of which has been proven and real to be the one truth in my life. In due time, I know that I'd come to terms with this new life, this new reality BUT I would never be able to forget about my past life. Time heals all wounds but the scars of the past shall always remain.

 

          For all I know, it could be that I myself am the anomaly, that maybe I am a conjured spirit who literally has possessed Twilight and that I may very well be holding the very fate of her spirit in my grasp. It's not right to assume that the body which I occupy is indeed mine and it's not right for me to radically change the individual whom is Twilight Sparkle. The needs of the many outweigh the few, I'm not prepared to jeopardize the lives of others and possibly throwing the balance/fate of Equestria askew just because I want to remember a life which may not even have existed. If I could I'd throw both options away and make a new choice, but I have to choose don't I?

 

          The only right answer is Scenario 1, forget my previous life and fully embrace my new existence as Twilight Sparkle. 

Edited July 23, 2013 by Accellerant

[Serbon div 386]

I hate when people make things so complicated.

 

Maybe I should have chosen one, since it's the true reality in this particular case.

[~StatesTheOblivious~ 1,795]

My decision: "One. Because it's the right thing to do."

 

Sure, It were experiences that mean something to me. It was a life, no matter if it was a dream or not. It was a part of me, created by "me". But it was. I already lived it. I "died". If I really had been dead, I wouldn't care about it being real or just a dream anyways. So, why disturb something that already is, and still is, a life? Death is a part of life. I shouldn't cheat it just to affect "another one's" in order to do so. That person who died was never Twilight Sparkle, but Twilight Sparkle was that person. She is the one who deserves to live without another one's life inside of her.

[Rascal~ 657]

I would pick option 2.

 

But I know me, I know if I was put in that situation I would still be able to be Twilight and still be me as well. I would be able to be 2 different people, to know when I can be me and when to be someone else. I've been doing it my entire life and another lifetime wouldn't do much more damage. I would be able to accept both existences and be able to life them both, even though one may have ended I would still live on. So I guess I wouldn't really pick option 1 or 2, I would pick 3. The option that's me, the option that I know would work because it works everyday and it would work for another lifetime.  The option that leads to madness.

[Evilshy 5,090]

Is option 1 really the right answer?

 

On the surface, yes. You found out that you are really Twilight Sparkle, so now you choose to live as Twilight Sparkle. You do everything Twi is supposed to do, how Twi is supposed to do it. In a sense, killing yourself so Twi can exist as she is intended to.

 

But go a little deeper and things are hardly so clear.

Individuals are defined by their experiences and choices. Everything that happens to you and every choice you make when dealing with it combines to make you who you are. So who's the real being inside Twi's body; the one the body was made for, or the one who is actually in it? If you experienced it all and it shaped your being, does it matter if it wasn't real? As far as your mind is concerned, it happened, and it all had a profound effect on you; there's no way a dream so long and vivid couldn't.

If you remember nothing about being Twilight, then you aren't Twilight; she died the moment you started that dream and became You. Everything in the dream made you a being; you were just mistaken about the body you happened to be living in.

Minds are strange things. They are intangible and seem to exist without a physical manifestation, other than the impossibly intricate pattern of electrical impulses constantly running through equally complicated pathways in your brain. The individuality of a mind is defined solely by these patterns, and the personalities, quirks, choices, etc that they result in (i.e. you). The fact that you can use this forum proves this; the body through which your mind acts is not required to be a certain way, otherwise you wouldn't be able to communicate and express yourself through a medium so drastically different from the ones contained in the body you were born with. People like Steven Hakwing also prove this; his body barely works, yet his mind remains formidable and he is able to communicate, albeit with much difficulty.

 

So you being in Twilight Sparkle's body in no way effects the fact that you are You.

 

Now, if you still want to kill yourself off so Twi can exist, that's your business. All I'm saying is that option 1 is not necessarily the right thing to do. And that's without even getting in to the subjectivity of right and wrong

 

 

And personally, I;d go with 2. I'm confident I could make things work. Having Twi's body, and therefore her horn, probably means I can learn magic. I could probably make friends with the Mane 6. But most of all, I'm into this little thing called self preservation, so I'm not really one for killing myself

[Sky Warden 2,243]

My choice isn't in the poll, so... yeah. I mean, this song represents my choice very perfectly.

 

 

I'm me, no matter what. I know who I am. I'm a human, in a pony body. You can't tell me to be Twilight Sparkle, cause I'm not what you see. I'm still here.

 

And I~ want a moment to be real~
Wanna touch things I don't feel~
Wanna hold on~ and feel~ I belong~
And how~ can the world want me to change~
They’re the ones that stay the same~
They can’t see me~
But I’m still here~

 

I love how this song fits my answer so perfectly.

Edited July 23, 2013 by Aerial Stream

[Fanned 88]

Meh. You see alot of people don't notice though, there actually isn't only two choices in this. You can either choose one, or choose both, or neither. xD

I'd just do both. I'd still remember all the stuff that had happened previously, but I'd still be Twilight. I'm good at having different personalities anyway lol. I'm sure everything'd be juuust fine.

[Revolver Bobcat 45]

I liked the scenario, but what exactly is at stake here? besides twilight i mean.

 

To me you are pretty much asking to die, wich of course i will answer no. Even if she deserve it better, im not going to give my life for that. And yes, there's a third option, in fact there's plenty of options, but the 3rd one would be: Fake it out, be yourself and not tell anyone, becouse fuck it, who needs to know? Yes, of course its an evil choice, but then again who gives a shit? Also, in a world where magic can pretty much do anything i don't think i would just give up on finding another 3rd option for bringing back twilight, or find me a body, or whatever really, anything but dying is good to me.

 

 

[ReverseFaller 2,483]

I'd go with 1. I'd rather just slowly disappear and let Twilight live, then be forced to remember every day that every thing I know was a lie. In a way, option one is like dying. But it's the right option in order for Twilight to live. In this scenario, Twilight was me, but I was never her. I was just another experience for her. 

[DarligPegasi 315]

I would keep my memories, i mean why would I want to forget my family (even if they're just dreams and figments of my imagination. So yeah I'd choose two except for the like-liking discord. That's pretty weird. xD

[Feather Gem 967]

In the actual story, it ends up going in a different way.  But Twilight still ends up having to decide before this.

 

At first she goes with option one. 

Pretty much because she's extremely tired and extremely lonely.  But the magic doesn't work.

 

After that, she really thinks about it...her decision (not going into full detail, too busy xD)

And yet again, she ends going for the first decision, feeling its the right thing to do, fearing that she won't be able to find another way before its too late.

Before she succeeds at this, the rest of the Mane Six jump in to stop her, under Pinkie Pie's direction and their own belief that it isn't right for Twilight to do this.

Now, the rest of the Mane Six - with the exception of Pinkie Pie - had not been talking to Twilight pretty much at all.  They pretty much abandoned her, leaving Twilight almost completely alone.  But upon realizing what Twilight was about to do, they also realized their own mistake.  They hadn't been true friends.  They hadn't done what a real friend would do, too overcome with grief and loss to realize this earlier.

So yes.  They stop her, saying there must be another way.

 

Not quite sure yet if there is.

 

I'll reply to all of your answers perhaps tomorrow.  Thank you so much for your answers, and keep them coming.  I mostly need them to add emotion to the story, as well as to make the readers really think.

Also, I'm putting this next thing here because I can.

 

What is your whole life was a lie?

[SwigglySwiggly 358]

I will kill who I am to bring back who she was, I was raised to respect the wish of others, I will sacrifice my new life as a pony to bring back Twilight, I live according to Darwin's value of human lives, my standard human life is not as valuable as A princess of Equestria ... a near perfect nation. 

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live" ~Martin Luther King  

I am willing to give my life for one of my role-models whether fictional or not.

Many other people will choose not to throw their memories away... friends and family, but why wont you consider Twilight's memories? how about Twilight's friends and family? I am not selfish and I will give up what I am for somepony else to discover themselves

Edited July 24, 2013 by SwigglySwiggly

[Outkin 35]

I choose one. I actually match up alot with twilight personality wise, so it wouldn't be hard to live as her. It's nothing more then a minor species change for me. I don't have too many friends, but I'd lose my family...it'd be tempting to pull me back, but I'd waste to much time and shatter friendships if I focused for too long on trying to get back....and in the end it'd probably be in vain. I'll just accept my fate and embrace my new family.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Scenario One for me, because I don't really mind being Twilight or letting Twilight be herself and I think that I would be okay not really remembering any of this so I would just have to go through with it. So, I would just give up my life.

[Dark Horn 430]

One. Why live a lie?

 

I would totally give up my own memories and body to become Princess Twilight Sparkle, who is my true self, since my old self was just a dream. For me, it's an instant no-brainer, a snap-decision.

[Celtore 2,770]

Interesting... I think the justified font is rather unjustified, but let's not nit pick...

 

I choose to forget. If I were to retain my memories, I would be forced to dismiss them as a massive dream anyway and I think that would be much more painful. If I really held the position that I was the person from these dreams, I think it would cause some pretty big identity problems.

 

It would be for the best if I just embraced the moment and lived out Twilight's life. Oh well, I like reading anyway.

[Ihei 713]

One, for those who need a friend. I honestly think that everypony needs a friend. Hope for the friendless. :3 And also, I'd let a pony live. I don't think I would accomplish much in my human life anyway.