Oh, Nelly

“Tell me, what do you know of the mare Whoa Nelly?”

~~

“Quiet on set, everyone on their marks… Action!”

The camera slowly zoomed in on a lone pegasus as she started her walk home from school, her curly blue, two-toned mane bouncing slightly with every step. Pink eyeshadow, slightly darker than her coat, and red eyeliner brightened her reddish-brown eyes, the whimsical lines ending in hearts on either lightly blushed cheek. She was not alone for long, as a pair of unicorns came up on either side of her.

The teenager lifted her chin and squared her jaw, seeming to prepare herself. The unicorn on her left sneered, “Nice makeup today, with how much you cake on I’m surprised you get enough sleep to stay awake in class.”

The pegasus willed her eyes not to roll into the back of her head, choosing to respond in a cool tone. “Golly, aren’t you sweet to be concerned about my sleep schedule.”

The one on the right scoffed. “Why do you even bother with all that junk? Don’t you know that colts are all about natural fillies, like us?”

“Not that you ever bothered to ask, but I don’t do it for the colts.”

The left one snarled and stuck out her hoof, tripping the pegasus. The other unicorn quickly conjured a rain cloud, turning the dirt into mud and utterly ruining the pegasi’s coat.

The pair tittered, the one who tripped her offering a half shrug. “Oops. Well hey, at least now you can get a good mud bath, isn’t that what all you vain and shallow girls like? You actually expect us to believe you ‘don't do it for the colts’?!”

“Hey! That’s not very nice.”

A large unicorn mare stepped up, looking at the younger unicorns with disapproval as she offered a hoof to the muddy pegasus. She lit her horn to help clean off the mud then addressed the two bullies. “Why are you being mean to her?”

Faced with an adult, the pair had the decency to look somewhat contrite, but they still gave the pegasus a side eye. One of them opened her mouth to speak but closed it, looking to the side with a confused expression now. Finally, she stomped her hoof in frustration and looked past the mare. “Line?”

A collective sigh swept through the studio set, making the unicorn flush with embarrassment. The director shushed the crew and held up a megaphone. “Lilac, your line was ‘What? She just tripped. Probably from all that junk on her face.’” He paused and looked over at a clock on the wall. “Tell you what, why don’t we take lunch and we can pick up from there later.”

The mare smiled reassuringly at the unicorns, “Don’t worry girls, we’ll get it next take, I believe in you!”

Lilac returned the smile and rubbed the back of her neck. “Aww geez, thanks Nelly. It’s a real honor to work with you.”

The other ‘bully’, Cashmere, nodded. “Yeah! Ever since I first saw one of your ads I was like, ‘oh my Celestia I hope I can be part of that’ and, now that I’m here, I’m having so much fun.”

“I’m glad you two are having fun. I know it must be hard to pretend to be bullies but I think you are doing a good job.”

Lilac looked past Nelly to the pegasus with genuine guilt. “Yeah, sorry by the way, I hope the trip didn’t hurt too much.”

The pegasus giggled and fluffed her damp curls. “Oh don’t worry about me, I might be a pegasus but I’m tougher than I look. I’m the one who said to make it authentic and catch me off guard.”

Lilac shook her head, “It’s incredible how dedicated you are to all this, inspiring even. I… Think I’m gonna go look at the script again and try to live up to your level.”

“Oh shucks, now you’re making me blush. I wouldn’t worry too much about it, acting is more of an art than a science. What works for me isn’t gonna work for everybody.”

Lilac nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I totally get that. Still though, I am gonna work hard to make this a success. See you girls in a bit!”

Cashmere followed Lilac off the set, talking to each other about the script and ways to make sure they did it justice. The filly watched them for a moment before looking up at the mare. “It’s Whoa Nelly, right? Can I ask you something?”

“Sure!” Nelly looked to the side and floated over a small towel. “But please, call me Nelly. All my friends do.”

The pegasus took the towel with a thankful smile and wiped her face. “Alright Nelly, do you think we are doing this right? I’ve seen your other ads, isn’t it usually, you know, ‘ugly’ ponies who get bullied?”

Nelly shrugged. “Maybe. I mostly just go along with what my agent thinks will be good. But, a lot of my brand is about loving yourself and I think sometimes even pretty ponies can be made fun of, just because they like being pretty.”

The filly thought this over. “I suppose that makes sense. How did you end up in this line of work anyways?”

Nelly scrunched her face in thought, trying to remember. “Hmm. You know, I don’t think I can remember.”

Something resounded deep inside her, a sudden dull pounding in her head that threatened to bloom into a migraine, but with a blink the sensation passed. Nelly shook herself and shrugged again. “Oh well. All that matters is I’m here now and I like doing this. What about you?”

The pegasus opened her mouth to respond, but closed it quickly with a frown. After a minute, she quietly admitted. “You know, I don’t really remember either.”

She seemed disturbed by this and Nelly scrambled for a distraction, anything to help cheer up her new, young friend.

“Hey, are you hungry? There’s plenty of yummy food and snacks over there.”

The filly hesitated before shrugging. “Sure, I could eat.”

The pair walked over to a table laden with snacks, meant for both stars and crew. The pegasus looked over the presented food and hummed. “So, even though you don’t remember how you got into all this either, do you enjoy doing it? Acting in ads, writing books, talking at schools?”

Nelly nodded. “Yeah. I know this is pretend, but I think it helps real ponies, and I like that. Even if it is hard work sometimes, it’s worth it."

“Huh. You know, you’ve said a lot about things you like, is there anything you don’t like?”

Nelly thought about this, looking around the studio as she did. Her eye caught on a poster of Princess Twilight Sparkle and that feeling from earlier returned. She wasn’t really sure why though. She pursed her lips. “I don’t like the color purple.”

The filly followed her gaze and a similar expression settled on her face. “Yeah, me neither.”

~~

“What do I know of Whoa Nelly? I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Exactly that. Don’t think about it, just tell me what comes to mind.”