Oh, Nelly

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, and heavier still the soul that bears it.

Many envy the position with no idea of the true power it holds, the burden of responsibility draping on shoulders like the yoke of the cattle, for to rule is also to serve.

When elevated to such heights, one must consider the scope of their actions, weighing heavily the price of a few to the good of the many and prepare for the consequences.

~~

Twilight was silent as Celestia led her beyond the doorway and into a large, rounded chamber. She barely breathed as they sat just outside of a protective ring of glowing runes. She watched in horror as a large, swirling vortex slammed into the magical barrier over and over, oozing with malevolence. There was really no other way to describe it. It was pure, concentrated malice. True evil.

Celestia spoke, raising her voice when needed over the howling winds that shrieked at random intervals. She told Twilight of an almost unbelievable version of Whoa Nelly from some years ago now, a mare who seemed the worst bogeypony made reality. Her haunted voice echoed as the vortex suddenly quieted, as if it wanted to hear her vague retellings of a horrific and unconscionable loss of life and harmony.

Twilight remained stoic, forcing her academic mind to listen carefully and dissect what information was being given, and fill in the blanks of what was left out. It obviously pained Celestia to recount this, to have to share the burden and bring Twilight in on a royal conspiracy she could have never imagined in her wildest dreams. The least she could do for now was listen. She was the Crown Princess of Equestria, her own emotions would have to come later.

“What amazes me still is how easily she went into custody after. She spent a week alone in the dungeons with half of Canterlot’s finest infantry guarding her cell as I tried to settle my citizens and prepare myself to face her. When I finally did go to see her, I had expected some…humility, some form of regret or, or even remorse.”

She shuddered. “What I found in that cell was none of those. I hesitate to even call her a pony, as cruel as it sounds. She never even gave a reason why, no matter how many times I begged and pleaded and demanded she provide one. I decided that if she wasn’t going to tell me, I would find out for myself.”

Twilight leaned into Celestia, trying to provide any small amount of comfort as she detailed countless sleeping nights of research and talking to anypony who knew Whoa Nelly. How, in the end, she could find absolutely nothing to explain what she did and how everyone had the same thing to say about the mare - that she ‘wasn’t right’.

“It was then I had to make a decision on what to do with her. My ponies demanded a trial, even went so far as to riot for her execution. Execution, Twilight! Try as I might, even after knowing what she did and knowing she had no remorse, I, I couldn’t bring myself to order her death.”

“I wanted to give her a second chance, to be able to live a better life and restore the harmony she had disrupted. But in order to do that, I needed to change her, make her safe for Equestria.”

Twilight’s apathetic front shattered with a shudder, not having the practice and strength yet to remain aloof in the face of such implications. Her voice trembled, “What did you do?”

Celestia was quiet for a moment, gathering herself. “What I had to.”

~~

The Royal Courtroom was separate from the Throne Room, a separation Celestia had been very specific about when building Canterlot Castle. Crime was rare in Equestria, violent crime even more so, and it was all the more rare that the Princess was required to pass down a judgement.

Fashioned after a traditional courtroom, the far end featured a raised podium and intimidating desks beside it to form a semi circle where the Princess and any necessary legal personnel would sit. Below it was a single podium, where the accused would stand to receive their verdict and on either wall were large galleries where, if permitted, the public may file in to watch the proceedings.

Today, the Courtroom was closed to the public, and as much as they demanded entrance, this case, and the sentencing decided on, would not be easy to understand. And so the guards were deployed, the gates closed, and the room empty save for one.

The rattle of chains and metallic thuds of armored shoes echoed in the vacant halls, steadily growing closer as a single mare was marched towards her judgement.

Celestia let out a deep breath and sat up straight, her wings flared on either side of her as she looked down from her heightened position. She didn’t often like to be so elevated above her populace, but judgements were a special exception and for as seldom as they were, she could tolerate it.

All too soon, the door opened and a solemn procession of heavily armored guards entered. Somewhere in the middle, the large frame of a teal unicorn stood tall, seemingly unbothered by the heavy chains that shook with every step.

The alicorn waited patiently as the guards in the front parted, swarming the stand and allowing the unicorn to take center stage. Only once everyone was settled and the room was quiet did the Princess speak. “Whoa Nelly, you are brought before the crown today accused of the following acts.” She cleared her throat and levitated a heartbreakingly long scroll, taking an extra moment to prepare herself to actually read aloud the crimes.

“36 counts of malicious disruption of harmony. 13 counts of grievous bodily harm. 12 counts of child endangerment. 23 counts of malicious intent to harm. And…11 counts of…” She swallowed thickly. “of murder.”

She put the scroll aside, forcing herself to look directly into Nelly’s unblinking brown eyes. “I have spoken with you on the nature of your crimes, and while you have offered acknowledgement, you have expressed no sign of regret or remorse. I will give you one final chance here to make a defense and provide reasoning.”

Whoa Nelly stared back, as undisturbed as the day she was brought into the dungeons covered in the blood of innocents. From all appearances, her and Celestia could have been neighbors discussing how their gardens were growing. “I don’t have anything else to say about this.”

Princess Celestia closed her eyes, her heart shattering in her chest as her last hopes were brutally decimated. Her face twitched as she opened her eyes. “Very well. Whoa Nelly, you are found guilty of all counts. Due to the heinous nature of your crimes, as well as your continued apathy and refusal to cooperate, I have come to an unorthodox but just punishment.”

She then jumped over her desk and gracefully glided down to the floor, guards shifting to give her space to land. “As incapable as you might be to understand this, know that it brings me no joy.”

Whoa Nelly raised an eyebrow, the first show of emotion she had made her entire time imprisoned. “Don’t lie to me Princess.” Her lips trembled, one side lifting into a very slight smirk. “I know what I did, and I know it must burn you up not knowing why.”

“Silence. Your judgement is passed and my justice shall be enacted. Guards, leave us. Help the others secure the castle. You may tell the public that I will release a statement in the morning, nothing more.”

There was a rustle of salutes and the retreating thuds of metal shoes and then, silence.

Princess Celestia’s horn flared with golden light as she teleported the two of them deep below Canterlot Castle, to a large, rounded room she had hoped she wouldn’t need to use. ‘Be prepared, but optimistic’ Somnambula had once told her, a lesson she was thankful she took to heart.

Whoa Nelly looked over the room, noting with another raised eyebrow the glowing runes circling the edges. She may not have been the most educated unicorn, but even without the inhibitor ring on her horn she could tell there was strong magic at play, the kind of magic used in containment.

“From one prison to another, is that your plan?”

“Of a sort. Will you resist?”

Whoa Nelly thought about this for a moment, then answered with a simple. “No.”

Princess Celestia nodded and stepped outside of the runes, her horn once more flaring with a brilliant light. Her eyes began to glow as she quietly brought forth another, smaller binding circle, right around Whoa Nelly’s hooves to hold her fast. Once she was secured, a beam of magic streamed directly into her horn and further into her mind, taking a moment to secure itself before it began to pull.

Whoa Nelly screamed, unable to move as her memories were forcefully ripped from her, her life literally flashing before her eyes in the most horrific way anyone could imagine. It was an agonizingly long process, made longer as she tried to resist, her horn sparking painfully underneath the nullstone ring.

Eventually, the spell was completed, leaving an empty mare and an oozing mass of dark colored magic floating in golden light. Celestia shuddered as the concentrated hatred and malice fought against her magic, knowing she didn’t have long to act. Another beam from her horn hit Whoa Nelly, in the chest this time, and pulled out a pulsating teal sliver of her soul.

In an instant, the circle holding her body was dissolved and then she was yanked, landing heavily next to Celestia. Then, the memories and soul piece were brought together in a violent explosion that shook the room.

Only when things had settled did Celestia let her horn die, heaving an exhausted sigh. Inside the runes, a seething vortex appeared, screaming unintelligibly. It slammed into the magical barrier, but to Celestia’s relief it left no mark as the spell held strong.

She looked down at the unicorn next to her, staring blankly into space now that there were no memories left and a piece of her soul missing. Celestia looked back at the amalgamation, unsure if her words would be heard but feeling the need to speak them anyways. “This is your punishment. You have disrupted harmony and must atone. However, you are too much of a danger to allow in the world anymore, so here your consciousness will stay, bound by your own soul. I will give part of mine to complete your body, along with false memories. She will become an advocate for all the values you lacked - kindness and empathy being the foremost. She will speak for those who feel they have no voice and preach the value of life. You will know of her deeds, but be unable to do anything about it. So I have decreed and so it shall be.”

~~

‘Heavy is the head that wears the crown’, a phrase Twilight Sparkle had never imagined would hold such personal meaning to herself.

She never envied the position that was thrust upon her, wholly unaware that she had been groomed for it her whole life. She had been told she was prepared, and so she acted like she was. And for most things, she was.

When she had first been elevated, she swore to treat her new responsibilities with all the gravity required. What she hadn’t expected was just how much weight those burdens would carry.