The Crown's Burden
Dear Princess Celestia
Twilight needs you. Starlight Glimmer returned. We beat her, but she had to do something really bad to win. She’s shut in her room and won’t come out.
Please hurry,
Spike
Princess Celestia cancelled all her appointments for the day as soon as she read the letter. All manner of situations ran through her head, none of them pleasant, but only a handful of them untenable. After informing Luna and her subordinates of her imminent absence, she left.
Opting for a teleport over an attention-grabbing arrival by chariot, she appeared in the entrance hall of the Castle of Friendship.
Nobody was around. She immediately made for the throne room, assuming that Twilight’s friends would be there.
She was correct.
“Princess Celestia!” called out Spike, Twilight’s draconic little brother. The rest of Twilight’s friends immediately stood and made to bow, but Celestia held up a hoof.
“None of that. I’m here as Twilight’s mentor, not a Princess. Now, will somepony please tell me what happened?”
All of them immediately turned nervous, looking to each other for a volunteer. Celestia expected one of the more willful ponies to speak, but it was Spike who filled the silence.
“It was Starlight Glimmer,” he said. “She stole a time travel spell scroll of Starswirl’s, and changed it so she could change the past. W-we ended up back during Rainbow Dash’s first sonic rainboom, and no matter what we tried, Starlight would stop it, so everypony wouldn’t get their cutie marks. Each time, we would get sent back to an Equestria where everything went wrong. Twilight...she...she tried her hardest. Starlight, she showed us why she hates cutie marks, and Twilight tried to get her to see reason, but…”
“But she chose evil, and so Twilight made a decision,” Celestia said.
Everyone hung their heads, but Spike nodded. “Yeah.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s in her room, she won’t come out.”
Celestia nodded. “Thank you, but I meant Starlight.”
Spike cringed. “Oh. S-she’s in the back.”
“Thank you Spike.”
She started to leave, but he interrupted her.
“Twilight’s not in trouble, is she?”
Celestia turned and smiled at him. “No, Spike. I trust that Twilight only made this decision after considering every other alternative. I am just worried about how she did it. Please put on a pot of Twilight’s favorite tea. I’ll be back shortly.”
She left to inspect Starlight. She desperately wanted to see to her former student, but it was imperative to determine exactly how the deed was done. It would serve as a guide for how exactly she would aid Twilight through her trying time.
The air felt stuffy in the back storage room, but Celestia paid it no mind as she approached the sheet covered body. She didn’t hesitate, and took it off, inspecting her former subject.
A single, small burn mark on her hoof. Anyone unversed in lethal magics would wonder how this would cause death, but Celestia knew better. A quick scan with her magic confirmed it.
Celeri Mortus. A spell as old as magic itself. Instant, painless death. Twilight had protested vehemently when Luna demanded she learn it, saying she would never need it.
Celestia sighed. Another one of her students forced to take a life for the good of the realm, but she felt her worst fears alleviate. Twilight had used the most merciful spell possible.
She studied Starlight’s expression for a moment. The shock told her all she needed to know. This one didn’t expect the heroine to take such a final action, just like many before her.
She replaced the sheet and stepped outside, returning to the throne room.
“Spike, paper and a quill, please,” she said.
“Is...something wrong?” he asked, putting the tea set down and doing as he was told.
“No, Spike. I just need to get the guard here. Twilight isn’t in trouble, but there is a procedure to follow.” She quickly scratched out a message to her sister to come. Luna needed to head this, as Celestia was too close to Twilight to not have a conflict of interest. Once done, she sent the letter off, and turned to the assembled group.
“Under no circumstances are we to be interrupted. Understand? When my sister arrives, tell her that Twilight will make her statement when she’s ready.” All of them nodded silently. She gave them a small smile and picked up the tea, heading upstairs.
Twilight’s door was locked and warded for war. With a calming breath, Celestia knocked two times, then three, then two. An old code they used when they needed to speak to one another, no matter the circumstances.
A few seconds went by, and nothing happened. She was about to try again when the wards disappeared, and the door unlocked with a click.
Celestia entered silently, locking the door behind her.
Twilight had her back to the door; she was staring at a display case, her crown setting within. As Celestia got closer, she saw the still fresh tears soaking Twilight’s cheeks, and heard her unsteady breathing. She walked over and sat next to her, setting the tea set down and pouring two cups, handing one over.
Twilight took it silently, but did nothing else.
“Drink,” Celestia gently ordered. Twilight did so, but continued to say nothing. The two sat there in silence for about half an hour, sipping at the tea and looking at Twilight’s crown. Celestia was certain what was going through Twilight’s mind, and was just waiting for her to make the first move.
“I’m sorry,” Twilight said, just barely audible.
“Why?” Celestia asked, just as soft.
“I…” She started to choke up. “I failed you!”
Celestia set her tea down and pulled Twilight in with her wing, keeping it draped over her. Just like they used to when she was but a filly.
“Tell me what happened, from your perspective.”
“I...I tried to save her! I tried so hard to show her the magic of friendship, but she wouldn’t listen! She just wanted revenge for us stopping her cult, and her hatred of cutie marks…” She sniffed. “When she was little, she was hurt badly. She lost the only friend she had, and thought that cutie marks had caused it. I-I think, when she heard my lecture on our cutie mark connection she just...snapped. She pulled us back in time, stopped the rainboom, and every time we got sent back to the present, each was worse than the last!
“Each time it was a villain that we stopped. Sombra, Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, Tirek, Discord. In the end, we ended up in a wasteland, and she still wouldn’t listen! Her hatred of cutie marks wouldn’t let her see what she was doing to the world.”
Twilight went silent after that, and Celestia waited patiently.
“At the end, I-I thought I was getting through to her. She was about to tear the scroll in half and trap us there, but she stopped. She was listening a-and I thought she would finally see reason but-”
She could say no more, and broke down sobbing. Celestia quietly stroked her wing down Twilight’s back, choosing to be her rock.
“I’m sorry, Princess, but I’m going to have to abdicate.” The case opened, and Twilight’s crown began to float over to Celestia.
Celestia had expected something like this. “Why, Twilight?”
She shook her head. “I’m not worthy of being the Princess of Friendship. Not if I failed this badly at my duties.”
Celestia eyed the crown for a moment before taking it, and promptly setting it on Twilight’s head.
“Princess?” she asked.
“Twilight Sparkle, at no point did you fail,” Celestia said.
“B-but I k-killed somepony! I couldn’t talk her down! I couldn’t-”
Celestia gently laid a feather over Twilight’s mouth. “Twilight, the burden of the crown is many things, one of which is making sure our subjects live in peace and harmony. But there is another aspect to it, a dark aspect. An unfortunate truth that any ruler must learn to accept.”
“W-what?”
Celestia smiled sadly. “That sometimes, difficult decisions must be made. Not everypony can be reasoned with. Not everypony can be stopped without lethal force. We must seek all other alternatives, for all life is precious, but we must be prepared to end it if necessary.”
“But I didn’t! I could have stunned her, or hit her with a sleep spell, or I could have stayed in the past to help you!”
Celestia nodded. “Those might have worked. They might not. We all have new ideas after we’ve made difficult choices, believing them to be better. Hindsight is a cruel friend, always telling us what could have been, but it’s something we should listen to for the future, not dwell on the past with.
Twilight looked down. “I...I don’t know.”
“I know, Twilight. I had the same dilemma the first time I had to take a life. Before, I swore to myself I would always rule justly, and that that meant never taking life, ever. But somepony took advantage of that, and forced my hoof. It was, at the time, the most difficult decision I had to make, but I would make it again, for the good of the realm.”
Twilight was silent for several minutes in silent contemplation. “Does it ever get any easier?”
Celestia looked away for a moment. “Unfortunately, to an extent, it does. The first is always hardest on your heart, and you’ll never forget it. The next time you’re in a similar situation, you will remember that such actions are necessary when there is no other alternative, and act accordingly. But always allow yourself to feel the pain. Never numb yourself to it. Morn those that pass by your hoof, for you must remember that they are victims themselves. Nopony is born evil, Twilight. Villains are made by their life experiences.
“Always love your subjects. Always. Even the ones that must pass on so the others may live. Especially them.”
“I still feel like I failed you.”
“Twilight Sparkle, you did everything but fail. You ended a threat to Equestria through lethal force, but you did so after pursuing every other alternative you could think of at the time. You had an impossible choice forced upon you, yet you did not freeze. You did not stop. You burdened yourself for the good of the realm. That is the mark of a true princess, to accept the realities of rulership, and continue on despite your misgivings.”
She pulled Twilight into a tight hug.
“I couldn’t be more proud of you if I tried.”
Twilight looked uncertain, but eventually nodded reluctantly.
“Okay. I don’t like it but…” She sighed. “What happens now?”
“There will be an investigation, but I’m certain that circumstances will show that you were in the right. You have nothing to fear from the law. There will be a debacle in the newspapers. Your leadership will be praised or questioned, depending on who is speaking. Wild rumors will fly. You’ll either be the next King Bullion or Sombra. You must maintain a clear head in public until this dies down, lest you make a scene and reinforce the fears against you. Starlight’s family will almost assuredly try to sue the state, and you must be prepared to eventually appear in court.
“Here? At home? Expect the populace to distance themselves from you for a while. Even in self defense, ponies fear those that take lives.”
Twilight looked down. “My friends must be terrified of me.”
Celestia smiled. “They’re right outside, waiting for you.”
Twilight perked up. “Really?”
“Really really. Would you like to see them?”
A hesitant nod. Celestia turned her head and unlocked the door, opening it. Sure enough, five ponies and a dragon were waiting outside.
“Can you stay?” Twilight asked, looking her in the eye for the first time.
Celestia smiled. “As long as you need.”
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I liked Celestia comforting Twilight and asking her questions she already knew or at least guessed the answers to. I also, for some weird reason, enjoyed the little tidbit about Celestia’s secret door knock thing...
A strange little tale, but very sweet towards the end. Poor Twily needs a hug.
Normally I'm not much of a fan of Darksad, but this one... This one I did like. You wrote Celestia so damn well!
This made more sense than the episode but will of course have repercussions in the future. Starlight's travels down the road of friendship always seemed unlikely. When she took over the other five to complete a friendship lesson she was being what she was. For her to make the transition she did was very against her nature.
An interesting hypothetical. Kudos!
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."-Henry IV Part 2
10461434
Darksad is only grimdark if it is too angsty.
It is normal for someone like Twilight to struggle with the bad decisions once must make when they are in charge.
Sad, but also heartwarming, and very well written. As someone with mild anxiety, I can confirm that hindsight sucks sometimes.
A good story, giving the right measure of gravitas to the tragedy. Celestia and Twilight both come through very much in-character. I liked that Celestia doesn't try to pretend there won't be consequences - investigation, media attention, and so on - but she also makes it clear from the start that Twilight did the right thing.
That's the main thing I like here: you didn't make a mistake that many people do and call such killing a 'necessary evil.' Instead, you call it what it is: a necessary tragedy. Twilight did a moral good, not evil, no matter how unpleasant and how much a better solution would have been preferred had one been available.
Starlight forced Twilight's hand, gave her no way to save the world other than to stop her permanently. This is why there is both a moral and legal distinction between murder and justifiable homicide, why we have concepts like Just War Theory. We live in a broken world. People are flawed, sinful. We all have capacity for both good and evil; we're born that way. Sometimes there are no perfect solutions because sometimes people don't give that option. Twilight bears the burden of making the hard choice so that others don't have to, and deserves more respect for that than some will probably give her (though fortunately Celestia and her other friends will do better in that regard).
All told, a good story - you took a difficult topic handled very well. Kudos.
Well, this universe is doomed, while it's a total victory for Queen Chrysalis.
Or before that, at least half the Mane 6 end up frozen to death, while at the same time losing the Crystal Empire all over again,
10462023
This is true in no ethical system other than either divine right or might-makes-right. What she did was murder (calling it "execution" and saying it was her right as a sovereign is just a way of sliding into either divine right or might-makes-right), and knowing what we know about Starlight's life, it wasn't even a murder with good consequences, as titanhades points out.
We all have to learn that we can't save everyone... and not everyone wants to be saved.
A Kobayashi Maru. Ouch that will stick with Twilight for a long time. It make me wonder if a magical simulation could be come up with just to help those that this could happen to in the setting?
Awesome fic, a great look at a terrible situation without it coming off as preachy in anyway. Expected done
10462742
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilitarianism
10463580
Murdering Starlight doesn't even net you more utils than letting her live, though. Again, as titanhades points out, murdering her leads to Chrysalis conquering the realm anyway.
10462742
you've forgotten literally every system that uses the concept of "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few", if killing one prevents the deaths of many (again, /wasteland/ and ergo genocide of all life on equestria is an outcome of Starlight's actions) in those situations the killing of the one is absolutely considered a good thing. Utilitarianism and Pragmatism would both laud Twilight as doing good, neither of which are might-makes-right nor divine right (also divine right would only apply in the sense that as divine or divinely appointed twilight and celestia can do whatever they want and still be considered "good", not on the ethos of killing itself)
10463681
That's not how the Butterfly Effect works. Maybe if Chrysalis was a glacier, but not with something as chaotic and unpredictable as brain activity.
Besides, Canon is just a suggestion.
10462742 By that extremely skewed 'moral' perspective, every armed police officer who's had to 'take the shot' to save lives, every victim who kills their attacker in self defence, every soldier defending innocents from attackers is just as evil as the most deranged psychopath.
I enjoyed this, but I always thought the alternative where Twilight strips Starlight of her magic and cutie mark like Starlight did to those villagers was the best alternative and seemed in her character.
I do see your point though that Twilight learns not everything can end without death as this is an important lesson she needs to learn. I'd say it was better to happen sooner rather than later in her immortal to long-lasting life.
10462742
Well then, I'd love to hear your proposed solution.
10462742
oh look, the Twilight-hater is back.
Up for another round of your mindless stupidity I see.
10462207
I don’t think so. Given some time to think I bet Shining Armor and Cadance would have come immediately to Ponyville to see Twilight. While there Cadance gives birth and they must race her back to the empire to do the crystaling to stabilize Flurry Hearts powers. This allows Starburst to find out what happened to his old friend and in shame he asks Twilight to help him be a better friend because his actions caused this. Twilight would agree because not only because she wants to understand Starlight better but she thinks that she can make amends for her being forced to kill. At this point Thoraxis still going to happen and Starburst simply takes Starlight’s place for the lessons. We would be meeting her father far earlier and see how he would react to his daughter having made her final error. I think things would be safe but very different.
10464996
I like this version as well.
A nice continuity to a different timeline that is also believable in terms of characters and their actions.
10464680
Twilight provides the solution in the story: do nothing. Give up your position of responsibility and live as a hermit the better to philosophize about virtue. There is nothing to be done to help the world, to try is both arrogant presumption and only likely to cause harm.
10465602
Then Twilight has failed. She was forced into a situation that she didn’t have many options for and had to make a choice with no time to think. Now looking back on it she can find things she could have done but with the clear and present danger Starlight was posing Twilight was close to breaking from everything that was happening to her.
By choosing to renounce her role in Equestria and go away to be a hermit she is running from her problems. She would be a far lesser being by confronting what happened if is ran away and by staying she is showing that she is willing to accept responsibility for her actions. As Celestia pointed out ponies will judge her but running away is not the answer.
Simple story, but good.
Princess, duh
i.imgur.com/cJlBUVL.gif?noredirect
10465785
Well, yes. And after having proved a failure, it is only right not to subject others to more of her failure. She has already proved she can't improve the world - the least she can do is stop making it worse.
10465602
How does that help anyone? If she does that, any assistance she provides to people from that point onwards can't happen. Not only that, but the school of friendship is never founded, so the different species of the world can't grow together in harmony.
You're being overly simplistic here. Yes, Twilight is guilty of manslaughter, but that doesn't make her evil and it doesn't mean that every action she will ever carry out from that point on is also evil.
10466297
The saying goes "Hindvision is 20/20". So any knowledge WE have regarding future developments cannot be taken into account unless it was obviously predictable at that point (besides the fact that the ripple effects are unknowledgeable even to us. The new circumstances might now lead to the even most unlikely results like Chrysalis redeeming herself etc.)
Killing someone is the ultima ratio. But there are situations that leave you with no other options (see the trolley problem) and in these situations you can only try to minimize the harm suffered by others.
Let us pretend that Twilight, having exhausted all other options she could think of in this situation, decided not to kill Starlight (who then proceeded to rip up the scroll, stranding Twilight and indirectly causing whatever extinction level events seen in the alternate timelines): Starlight still is dead (only this time due to whatever wiped out Equestria reaching her village)... with the difference that the rest of Equestria is too.
10466452
10466297
Well my personal view of infinitely branching timelines dictates that Starlight achieved nothing more than creating more worldlines, and thus her scheme was utterly pointless so far as vengeance against the Elements goes. I think there was a story about that recently in fact...
Anyway, abstaining from action in that final wasteland could really only affect three people. Twilight, Starlight, and Spike. Let Starlight destroy the scroll, and they're stuck there. Probably die of dehydration in a few days time, possibly longer in Spike's case depending on dragon physiology. So really, given that this starlight refuses to relent, she's going to die either way. A painless death by curse, or a wasting death of hunger and thirst. Or suicide, she might take the coward's way out.
So then, let's consider the actual variables, Twilight, and Spike. Twilight has a choice between life and death, not just for herself, but also for Spike, her son/brother/confidant/friend/other. There's responsibility there, she brought him into this, it's on her to bring him out again. Furthermore, as the saying goes, "those with the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action". Twilight is an alicorn, a princess, and a gifted mage. Her potential to serve and better Equestria beggars the mind, depriving the nation of that service through suicide or hermitage would be an appalling act of selfishness.
Consequences. We must always consider consequence, "if this, therefore..." Hammering every action along a singular moral absolute for no reason other than dogma will cause far more problems than it solves.
This is from Mercedes Lackey's "Valdemar" series, but applies here as well.
10466297
By that logic who would she be abdicating to? if ANY lethal consequences or "failures" negate the entirety of your efforts then both Celestia and Luna should have abdicated LONG ago, Luna because of her attempts to genocide the planet as Nightmare Moon (eternal night means the equestrian half of the world freezes while the other half burns, meanwhile the twilight zone around the equator doesn't actually have enough light to sustain most plants and too much for the rest so freezing burning or starving is the fate of the entire planet) and Celestia if not for allowing her sister to transform then for her role in the Crystal Empire being banished for a thousand years: when they got back any family they had outside the empire would have been dead for quite some time, so for those banished the banishment effectively killed their outside family.
But there's a bigger problem here than even that: if failing to be "good" in one decision once means you need to absent yourself from power for life then only evil people would have power. Because all mortals are fallible (and in this case all immortals as well that we see except possibly the Tree) failures will inevitably happen, at which point you've demanded that the "good" retreat to a life of solitude and reject power. Them simply vanishing from power DOES NOT IN ANY WAY REMOVE THE POWER. If all the princesses abdicate, the government still exists, and then who's next in line? Cadence because we haven't seen her screw up yet? And once she does who next? Blueblood, which for all the character assassination he receives in this show does still very clearly view society as a pyramid meant to siphon benefits to the highest strata of society and does not care in the slightest for your morality. At that point, not being a "good" person and having no desire to be one the Blueblood I have described would then stay in power and continue to make things worse for everyone who isn't in his select group of "superior" people/ponies. Now I don't know about you but a flawed "I made a difficult decision and it weighs on me because there might theoretically have been a better way" Twilight Sparkle sounds a hell of a lot better to me both morally and the situation i would be living in than a "lol you should have thought of that before being born lesser" Blueblood. As cute as calling running away from your problems "noble" is, it would be first off the least responsible thing she could do, and one of the worst things for the world as a whole
10462742
So what should she have done?
My goodness, the sorrow and inspirational combo you wrote this fic with, it's just simply amazing work! I can't even begin to describe how many different feelings can be felt through this whole story, but it all certainly shows your emotional writing prowess! I hope you didn't mind, but I made a reading of this fantastically written fic of yours!
Audio Linkerloo!: https://youtu.be/Y4Hu1wq6OJc
(I don't mean to offend anyone with this comment in any way!)
10466832
I never expected a youtube reading to happen, but here it is. Thank you.
10466297
Then by your logic Spider-Man should have quit after he found out the person who killed Uncle Ben was the robber he let go. Or how about Batman after The Joker killed Jason Todd? Or Captain James T. Kirk after his choices let Kahn wreck the Enterprise and Spock had to give up his own life to save everyone? The measure of a person is how they respond to failure so Twilight choosing to call it quits makes herself look like a failure.
10466758
10466859
Don't bother with Zimmer.
He really doesn't care about the whole 'trying to be good and failing vs being good all the time' debate.
I have seen him around in comment-sections and he never wastes a chance to shit on Twilight and try to make her appear awful or put her in a bad light.
This is simply another excuse for him to badmouth a character he hates. The reason why does not matter to him.
I´m a 45 years man, and i do not to cry for this and.... bwaaa poor twily );
Great job, i love, it's short very good. I like how do write Celestia's character. Keep this way.
10466486
one of my first favorite PMV's
On a separate comment, I agree that there could have been a better way, but of all the Villains save for maybe NMM, Starlight was by far one of the most dangerous and dark in the series. She was willing to consign all of creation to utter destruction to satisfy what could be boiled down to a filly-hood grudge. One thing that I've seen multiple times in many other fanfics, particularly "war" fics is where characters act exactly how Twilight acted. Forget the news, forget GTA and other shoot-em-up games, taking a life is NOT easy, and just about every character I have come across grieves or is physically ill after their first. Twilight is a scholar, a librarian, she's no saint, but outside of maybe some play "training" with her BBBFF, I doubt she's ever had so much as a self-defense course (in the physical sense anyway). Her reaction is completely justified and Celestia's responses are exactly what I envision any good mentor figure saying. Liking and favoriting.
10467003
oh that was obvious from his first comment don't worry (seriously let's ignore some of the most prevalent modern philosophical doctrines in an attempt to make a point, coupled with completely ignoring comments that point out how flatly /wrong/ the argument is on its own merits and either you just want cover for your ad hominem or you're completely retarded, possibly both in his case) however these conversations can be useful for multiple reasons both in the exchange of ideas in all of us who do have commentary on his poor arguments (shouting out Venerable Ro in particular but I've seen a few others holding up points that wouldn't have occurred to me as my default philosophical mindset doesn't come from that angle) and serve as a warning to the more intelligent that if behavior like this continues they will be called out for it.
“If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.”
-Catherine Aird
10462742
I've seen you post on nearly every Twilight focused story and you have something really against her I don't know what it is but its to the point of following every group that's centered around her. I'm agreeing with the majority here, Twilight used every alternative to stop her and she didn't listen so Twilight had no other choice, it was either risking the lives of everyone else and the realm for a selfish unicorn that couldn't let go of her anger.
10467209
Nice to see someone who understands the threat Starlight poses.
10467242
That is exactly why I'm glad they had her in the show in the first place, and while I wouldn't say I wasn't a tad disappointed in how quickly she was reformed, the fact that she still screwed up whole seasons later kinda took the edge off. If anything, Starlight became a kind of...anti-hero I guess you could call it?
10467324
She's still a villain in my eyes and I refuse to believe otherwise.
10467329
Fair enough, and to each their own. She made a fantastic villain, much better than say Cozy Glow or the "re-incarnated" Sombra.
10467376
They switched Sombra's and Tirek's personalities on purpose.
10467392
oh? I knew some things, but that is a new one for me. oh and btw thanks for the like, I am not exactly the most prolific writer, but every once in a blue moon I'll get a lightbulb over my head and write a snippet of something or other. I'm more of a reader with a dash of helpful critique or silly observation than anything on this site.