//------------------------------// // 2. The Prince's Pride // Story: Exit Through Canterlot // by TheBrianJ //------------------------------// Every fiber of Octavia's being was screaming at her to leave. She wanted to turn and run as fast as she could, away from the crowd, the statue, and Canterlot. But as she stared at the statue, her legs refused to listen to the panicked orders of her brain. When Vinyl had shaken her awake, the events of the previous night were nothing but a blurry haze. She had assumed—or rather hoped—that it was simply a nightmare brought on by the tormenting stress of the Gala. But now, what she had done was staring her right in the face. The statue was colored green from the tip of Celestia’s regal crown to the base of her hooves. Not just any green, but an ostentatiously vulgar green. That wasn't the only change that had been made, and it certainly wasn't what the gathered ponies were muttering about. Both of Celestia's eyes had been completely blackened in by something other than spray paint, and the word “ignorance” was written in angry black letters where the royal Cutie Mark once shone. Octavia could do nothing but stand completely frozen, blinking. She hoped that maybe when she opened her eyes everything would be back to normal, but each time she did the statue remained firmly in place, refusing to disappear. She stared until Vinyl's voice surprised her so much she nearly jumped out of her skin. "Woooaaaahh," Vinyl remarked, her eyes wide. She began to step forward when Octavia limply reached out to her. "Vinyl, I really don't want to—" "What, are you kidding? I gotta find out what happened!" Vinyl interrupted, quickly galloping ahead. Shivering, Octavia followed until they reached the back of the assembled ponies. Vinyl tried to find an opening to weave through the crowd, but nopony would budge. Frustrated, she jumped up and down for a better view of the statue as Octavia stood next to her, convinced that at any moment the royal guards were going to swoop down and arrest her. As she tried to keep herself hidden behind her friend as best as possible, Vinyl ran up to one of the guards standing at the back of the crowd. "'Scuse me?" she said, but the guard didn't notice her. "Hello? Mister Guard!" Again, there was no reaction. Vinyl sighed and blew a stray strand of hair back into place, then leaned forward, putting her mouth right next to the ear of the guard. "Hey, yo!" The sudden shout startled the guard. Shaking out the ringing in his ears, he turned to glare at Vinyl, who just blinked and stared at him. "What, not a Trott Hall fan? Oh, never mind. Can you tell me what happened here?" The guard sighed, turning back to the crowd of ponies. "There's really nothing to report that you can't see yourself. Overnight, somepony came to the statue of Her Majesty, and decided to do, well, that," he said, nodding at the statue. "Obviously they have a grudge against the princess." "So, who did it?" Octavia winced and held her breath, bracing herself for the inevitable. The guard just shook his head. "We have no idea. Nopony was around to see it, and we didn't get any reports of any other suspicious activity in the area. To be honest, unless the perpetrator comes forward, I doubt we're going to find out who did this." Shuddering, Octavia let out a silent sigh of relief. Vinyl turned and began to force her way through the crowd, urging Octavia to follow behind her, and she managed to shove her way near the front of the group. She looked at the statue, pacing around it as Octavia reached the front as well, finally getting a close-up view of her vandalism, waves of shame washing over her. “Wh-what could have possibly compelled me...” Octavia muttered quietly to herself her eyes scanned the statue. She wracked her brain to come up with some kind of explanation, some possible justification for what she had done, but instead, something else came to the forefront of her mind: euphoria. Happiness. The almost perverse sense of satisfaction she remembered as she spray painted the statue. Octavia suddenly realized that a smile had curled across her face. She shook her head to get rid of it, but her thoughts were interrupted instead by a shout from the back of the crowd. Though the voice came from far away, it was still loud enough to pierce the eardrums of everypony who had gathered. "No, no, no!!" As the crowd suddenly separated and turned, a large white unicorn stepped forward, flanked on either side by four royal guards. Octavia shuddered slightly upon seeing him and Vinyl grumbled under her breath, "Oh great. His Royal Pompousness.” Prince Blueblood walked up to the statue, his jaw hanging limply as he stared in shock. He fell back on his haunches in front of the statue, shaking his head in disbelief. One of the guards cautiously walked up to him. "Prince Blueblood, I can assure you that this appears to be an isolated incident: there have been no threats made on Celestia or the royal family, nor any indication that an attack is imminent. There is absolutely no reason to be afraid, danger is—" "Danger?!" Blueblood interrupted. "Who cares about danger? This is far, far worse than somepony trying to attack Celestia. This is a slap in the face of all royalty everywhere, myself included! I do not like being embarrassed, Slade." "My name is Slate, sir." "Not now, Slain! Do I look like I care about your name? I am far too busy being distressed!" With Blueblood now drawing everypony's attention with his ranting, Octavia approached her friend. "Vinyl, I think we should leave." Vinyl gave her a curious look. "But things are just getting interesting! Why are you so—" She was interrupted when Blueblood leapt to his hooves and spun around, his brow furrowed as he glared at the entire gathered crowd. "Who is responsible? Which one of you did this? I demand to know right now!" Blueblood paced through the crowd and yelled at everypony gathered, and Octavia shrunk back, trying to hide herself in the crowd. Vinyl paid her no attention, a goofy grin spread across her face from watching Blueblood freak out and scream at anypony too unfortunate to be within hoof’s reach. Octavia shivered as Blueblood drew near to her, but he stopped and walked back to the guards and addressed them. "I want you to sweep this crowd and not rest until you arrest the culprit and throw them in jail!” he bellowed. The guards all looked at each other awkwardly for a second before one of them spoke up. "Um, Prince Blueblood, there are no laws against this sort of thing in Canterlot, and we can't just arrest them all. Not to mention we have no idea who did this, nor will we likely ever find out." Blueblood shook his head. "Then I will take to the streets and find the disgusting scourge myself!" Upon hearing those harsh words, Octavia felt her teeth grind together. Without thinking, her eyes narrowed and she stood up, glaring at Blueblood. She took a step forward, but stopped herself. “What are you doing, Octavia?” she tried to ask herself, but her body ignored her and resumed walking forward as Blueblood continued to yell at nopony in particular. "I will find them and I will throw them in jail! No, I'll throw them in the castle dungeon! No!" he yelled, his eyes widening in anger. "I'll have them executed! I will look them in the eyes and say 'Hello! My name is Prince Blueblood. You insulted royalty, prepare to die!'  What they did to this statue is disgusting, it's horrific, it's—" "I actually find it rather interesting." Octavia stopped and turned her head, trying to look over the crowd of ponies to see where the voice had come from. Blueblood did the same, whipping his head back and forth over the crowd. "Who said that? Who dares to speak over me?" The crowd parted and a number of ponies gasped as two figures stepped forward. In the front was a stallion with a perfectly kempt blue mane, carefully wiping a monocle on the front of his suit. Next to him was a unicorn, smiling happily as she nuzzled her husband while still looking up at the statue. Blueblood sighed. "Why am I not surprised to see you here, Fancy Pants?" Fancy Pants just blinked, looking over at Fleur de Lis with a befuddled expression. "Erm, my house is only a block away, Blueblood." "Never mind that. What do you mean by finding this 'interesting?’” Blueblood questioned. “Are you saying you agree with it? That you find your Princess, my beloved aunt and the immortal ruler of all Equestria, to be ignorant?! I will have you court-martialed for treason against Canterlot!" "First of all, isn't she your great great great aunt, thrice removed?" Fancy Pants calmly replied, drawing a chuckle from Fleur. "And secondly, haven't you ever heard of freedom of expression, Blueblood? Clearly, somepony has an issue with Celestia, and has taken a more proactive approach to letting the world know. And I appreciate that sort of expression. You can't tell me that you feel absolutely nothing by looking at this.” The gathered ponies exchanged glances, a few of them nodding in agreement while others just shook their heads. Blueblood was completely flabbergasted and marched right up to Fancy Pants. "I certainly do feel something: anger!” Blueblood screeched. “This is the worst possible thing that could ever happen in Canterlot, Fancy! Not that you would care.” Fancy Pants tilted his head, and Fleur stepped forward, her normally content expression now scrunched in distaste. “And just what are you implying about my husband, Mister Blueblood?” “That’s Prince Blueblood to you, you prissy diva. And I’m implying that Fancy Pants does not, nor has he ever, given a damn about Canterlot!" Fleur stepped back in shock and Fancy Pants sighed in frustration. “Must you always make discussions so personal, Blueblood? This has nothing to do with Fleur or myself, this is merely about art.” “This is not ‘art,’ this is a direct attack on the royal family! I refuse to believe that this cheap, disgusting, backwards, flanksy ‘art’ has a place in Canterlot!" As Blueblood continued to huff and puff, Fancy Pants raised an eyebrow, glancing between the prince and his own wife. He and Fleur stared at each other for a few moments before the both of them started to snicker. Blueblood leaned forward even more, almost tipping over. "And just what is so funny?" Fancy finally stopped snickering enough to turn back to Blueblood. "Sir, without sounding cocky, I like to think of myself as a well-educated and well-spoken pony, and I can assure you that 'flanksy' is not, in fact, a word. I'm curious, how exactly did you mean it?" Blueblood's face turned red as a number of ponies in the area started to laugh and whisper to each other, Vinyl included. "Flanksy?" "I've never heard that word before." "That's the silliest word I've ever heard." Blueblood's face reddened even deeper as he stammered, "Well, you know, flanksy! As in, l-low class, poor taste? Er, I mean…" As ponies continued to laugh, Blueblood shot his head around before letting out an angry grunt and stomping his fore-hooves into the ground, turning and storming off in a huff with his entourage of guards following close behind. With ponies still snickering and Fancy and Fleur now examining the statue closely, apprehension again crept back into Octavia's mind. She tapped her friend’s withers and said, "Vinyl, we really should just leave now." Still chuckling a bit, Vinyl nodded. "Hah, yeah, I don't think things are gonna get any better than that. Let's go." --- “Man, you just don’t see stuff like that in Canterlot,” Vinyl commented, gazing around at the buildings on the walk home. “Heck, you barely see stuff like that anywhere! I’ve heard of similar things in Manehattan, but at best it was a big smiley face some bored artist did, and usually got cleaned up quickly. But this is just pure vandalism! And with a statue of Princess Celestia no less? Totally nutso.” “Mm-hm...” Octavia hummed. She could only assume that Vinyl wanted her to agree with whatever she had said, because was too far gone to have comprehended anything. Every muscle in her body was focused instead on containing a rapidly building anxiety attack. “And it was green! The whole thing was green, like Celestia is some kind of ogre or troll! Never seen anything like that before.” “Yeah...” Octavia replied, cringing at the word ‘troll.’ Vinyl continued to talk, her words going straight through Octavia's head without her comprehending them. Part of her wanted to tell Vinyl to stop talking, but she knew that bringing up the subject in any way, shape, or form would undoubtedly lead Vinyl to realizing who had done it. Instead she bit her lip and averted her gaze as far as she could from Vinyl the entire walk back to the apartment. Vinyl opened the door and stepped inside with Octavia following behind, still shaking as she sat down on the couch and tried to not pay attention. "Writing 'ignorance' on her flank, like that's her special talent? That's some heavy, heavy stuff. I can't even begin to think what would cause something like that," Vinyl said, following up with a giggle. "Maybe it was Luna! It's been a few months since she returned, but I bet she's still a little sore about that whole 'trapped in the moon' thing. Ooooh, or maybe it was somepony who couldn't afford to go to the Gala! She totally wants Celestia to lower ticket prices!” Octavia kept her head turned away slightly, taking in deep breaths to calm herself down. Her anxiety started to go away and she turned back, but immediately froze. Vinyl had begun to clean up the apartment, and she had just picked up the jacket that Octavia had dropped on the floor the night before. She held her breath, her eyes locked on the pocket of the coat as Vinyl walked towards the closet. "Gotta admit though, it was hilarious seeing Blueblood embarrassed like that,” Vinyl said, walking towards the closet. “I really wish that would happen more often." Octavia stared intently as Vinyl reached up to hang the coat up and the can of spray paint came tumbling out of the pocket of the coat, noisily clattering on the ground. She was unable to take her eyes off of it as Vinyl hung the coat up, then reached down and picked the can up. Octavia's teeth chattered as Vinyl started to put it away, but then Vinyl paused, shaking the can a few times and frowning. "Aw man, almost empty? I thought it was still full, I was gonna use it today," Vinyl said, turning towards Octavia. "I'm gonna be the opening act at the Everfree Frolic next weekend, I thought it'd be funny to run with the theme. Wear an outfit made out of leaves, paint my whole turntable green..." As the word “green” left her mouth, Vinyl slowly trailed off, staring at the spray paint can in her hoof for a few moments. Octavia trembled as Vinyl slowly looked up at her. Octavia glanced away slightly, sweat beading down her face. Vinyl slowly put the can down, trotting back over to the coat and rummaged through the pockets. After a second or two she paused, and pulled a black lump out, balancing it on the end of her hoof and carefully examining it. It was a large piece of charcoal. Vinyl examined the charcoal, and then turned her head to look down at the can of spray paint again. She slowly looked over at her friend on the couch. Octavia's face was red and pouring with sweat, her hooves trembling. Vinyl stared at her for a few more moments before her magenta eyes widened. "No. Bucking. Way." Vinyl stepped forward when Octavia didn't respond. "Okay, I'm sure there's a perfectly rational and logical explanation for this. An explanation that won't completely and totally blow my mind forever. However, I just gotta get the insane theory out of the way first, so I'm gonna ask you this directly: did you paint the statue?” Octavia remained silent, so Vinyl leaned right in front of her face. "Tavi, answer me. Was it you?!" Octavia spun around so she was facing completely away from her. "I don't want to talk about it,” she muttered. Vinyl's breath escaped her and her jaw nearly hit the floor. She slowly sat down next to Octavia, gazing straight ahead just trying to comprehend what she had heard. "Oh my dear Celestia, it was you. You did that. You spray painted the statue green. Y-you called Princess Celestia ignorant." Vinyl shook her head. "What am I supposed to say to that, Tavi? I mean, something like that is just…" Octavia sighed. "I know. Last night was the lowest point of my life. I read an interview with Princess Celestia, and she claimed that nopony was hurt at the Gala. Certainly she meant physically, or just made a mistake, but… I-I let my emotions get the best of me and I... I did that. I cannot wrap my head around what compelled me to do such a thing, but all I know for sure is that what I did was wrong. Purely, simply, wrong. It was disgusting, it was shameful, it was—" "Amazing!!" Octavia stopped, her jaw half-open in the middle of her sentence. Vinyl quickly grabbed her by the head, making their wide eyes connect, Octavia dumbstruck and Vinyl with a smile so wide it was threatening to split her face in half. "Tavi! This is, like, the coolest thing ever! I don't even have words for this, it's so awesome! This is it! This is exactly what I've been talking about!" "What?" "Expressing yourself! This is you expressing yourself!" Octavia’s face fell. "You cannot possibly be serious." Vinyl enthusiastically nodded, wrapping Octavia into an uncomfortable hug. "I knew you had it in you, Tavi! I kinda always figured you'd bludgeon some jerk pianist with your cello or something like that, but never anything this cool!" "B-but...” Octavia managed to stammer. “Vinyl, I called Princess Celestia ignorant! I ruined her statue, and there was absolutely no reason for it!" "No reason for it? Hey, I read that article too, and if you ask me it looks like somepony was hurt! I'd say that's a pretty good reason. You shouldn't be ashamed of something like that, you should be proud! Did you see how all those ponies were gathered? Did you hear how they were talking? Nopony's ever done anything like this in Canterlot before!” "That’s because it’s disgraceful!" Octavia snapped back, standing up and turning away, gazing out the window. "You are my closest friend, and I know you want me to feel better, but I also know that you are just saying that. You do not have to do this, I know that what I did was wrong, and—" Vinyl interrupted by placing a hoof over her mouth, silencing her. "Tavi, look at me," she calmly said. Vinyl’s eyes had narrowed, staring into Octavia’s eyes with a determined grin. "I swear to you I'm not just saying this. If I thought what you did was stupid, believe me, I'd tell you. Octavia, I’m not ashamed of you. Heck, I'm proud of you for showing your emotions like this." Octavia couldn't think of anything to say. She had wanted to put everything out of her mind and move on, and yet here was her closest friend in the world, telling her about how cool it was. Vinyl finally let go of Octavia, backing up a few steps. "So, what are you gonna do next? Are you going to hit another statue of Celestia? There are a ton of them in the market district, I bet—" Octavia gasped. "What? ‘Next?’ Vinyl, what I did was wrong, and I can assure you that I am never, ever going to do something like that again! It was an isolated moment of weakness, not some sort of rebellion! Do you really expect me to do something like that again? What possible reason could I have to?" “I bet it felt awesome to let go of that anger. Come on, you can’t tell me it didn’t feel great!” Almost nostalgically, Vinyl’s words brought back the euphoria of the previous night’s events. For a few seconds, she felt herself enveloped in the peace that had come with the act. Octavia shook her head as shame flooded her memory, driving the peace out of her mind. "Vinyl, it doesn't matter how it felt,” Octavia said, closing her eyes. “All that matters is that what I did goes against everything moral. I let my emotions get the best of me, something that I assure you I will never let happen again." "But—" "I can see no reason why I would do something so shameful a second time, and I would very much appreciate it if you didn't bring the subject up again." "But Taviiiiiiiii—" "No ‘buts,’ Vinyl. It was wrong, and that is all I wish to discuss on the matter." Before Vinyl could respond, Octavia turned and trotted to her room. After a few moments, the slightly off-key sounds of Beethoofen's Lunar Sonata drifted from her cello. It had been several days since Vinyl heard Octavia play. She had eagerly been looking forward to hearing it again, as she knew it would be a sign that Octavia was truly feeling better. But now that she was hearing it, all Vinyl could think about was the statue. Octavia finished the Lunar Sonata, immediately switching over to a more upbeat song to calm her frazzled nerves. She stared emptily ahead, lazily drawing the bow across the strings as her mind drifted away from the song. After a few moments, her focus was so far gone that she accidentally jabbed herself in the chest with the bow, jolting her back to reality and thrusting the bow across the strings in a panic. With a shake of her head, she resumed her playing. She stared straight ahead, but her mind continued to wander as the tempo of the song gradually sped up. Her gaze faltered around the room for a few minutes, until she looked down and realized she was playing at double speed. She pulled the bow away and took a long breath, then gently returned to the song. “Stupid statue,” she mumbled to herself as her eyes turned and focused instead on the window. As she gazed out at the streets of Canterlot, a smile slowly crossed her face. “Did look good in green, though...” Octavia shook her head, scowling as she attempted to focus on the song once more. --- The next morning, Octavia woke up with a headache. She groggily trotted over to her cello and plucked at the strings a few times, but the sound that resonated from it did nothing to help her confused mood. She slowly left her room, and almost immediately Vinyl looked up from across the hall, putting on an awkwardly forced smile. "Good morning, Tavi. How you feeling?" "Fine," Octavia said with a passing glance. Vinyl gave her a concerned look. "How fine? Fine fine, or just fine?" Octavia tilted her head to one side. "What? I'm fine." "Can you, like, quantify the amount of fine? On a scale of one to ten, how fine are you feeling?" "Vinyl, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking—" She stopped herself, seeing what was sitting on the couch beside her friend: the day's copy of the Canterlot Times. She slowly stepped forward, taking the newspaper in her hooves and staring at the headline. Vinyl sighed in defeat. "I was hoping I could get you to feel really, really good before you saw that..." Octavia sat down next to her, eyes locked on the newspaper. Nearly the entire front page was taken up by a picture of a smug-looking Prince Blueblood. Above that, the remainder of the page was lost to the article’s headline. Her hooves trembled as she scanned those six words over and over again, before finally reading them aloud, her voice cracking. "'An Open Letter To A Terrorist?!’" Vinyl shook her head. "Prince Dipstick practically commandeered the newspaper. Listen, maybe you shouldn't read that right now. I don't think—" Octavia wasn't listening, her eyes locked on the headline. The word "terrorist" throbbed in her eyesight, and she ground her teeth in anger. Finally tearing herself away from the headline, she ripped open the paper and feverishly scanned the article. --- Yesterday was one of the darkest days in Canterlot history. It was a day that will be forever be remembered as when the entire city mourned. It was a day when I, Prince Blueblood, was directly attacked by an unknown terrorist. For those of you who are unaware, the statue of Princess Celestia at Clopperstone Road was assaulted overnight. It was painted the most garish color of green, blinded, and had the word "ignorance" written across the flank. This was nothing less than a direct assault on the royal family, which means it was a direct attack on yours truly. Oh woe is me! I have done nothing to deserve such embarrassment, such a disgusting personal attack. I am royalty, I deserve nothing but the finest treatment and the utmost respect of all my subjects in Canterlot, in all Equestria! The mere knowledge that there could be a pony in our fine city who hates me so much that they would do something like this to this statue is, without a doubt, the most unsettling thing to happen in Canterlot in years. The pony who did this, the one who dared to attack me, is nothing less than the lowest scum of Equestria. They are the kind of pony who likely lives on the streets in the back alleys, completely ignorant and blind to the riches and success of the ponies around them, and only thinks about themselves. They are nothing but an abomination, an atrocity, a loathsome, nonplussed, pitiable, wretched, woebegone peasant who has worsted the city of Canterlot, and disgraced the name of the royal family. Whoever you are, you have made me gross in your ways, and I will never forgive you. The fact that you have not stepped forward is proof enough of how worthless of a pony you are. The royal guards have informed me that there is nothing they can do, because there is technically no "law" against what happened. Well I say that that is ridiculous, and I will personally find you and deface you myself for your crimes. On a related subject, yesterday while observing the hate crime in person, I referred to the statue using a number of different words, one of which was the word "flanksy." Several ponies, lead by one Mr. Fancy Pants, proceeded to dare insult me for using that word, which he claimed did not exist. I want everypony in Canterlot to know that my words are not to be insulted or taken light of; as royalty, my words deserve to be cherished and treasured, as if each one was a newborn foal. But because several ponies chose instead to insult me, then I will withhold my words from them. I hereby declare that I never wish to hear the word "flanksy" in my presence again. You will forget about the word, as if it never existed. I understand that many of you wish to adapt my words into their everyday life, but because several ponies had to mock me, all will be punished. --- Octavia seethed as she sped through the article, which was just full of more self-congratulatory comments and continued insults at her work. Her tightening hooves crumpled the corners of the newspaper, and Vinyl reached out to try to calm her down. "Tavi… I know how upset you are, but don't let that snob get to you. You know how much of a jerk he is: he hates anypony who doesn't worship him. You're not disgusting, you're not a peasant, and you're definitely not a terrorist." Octavia glared daggers at the image of Blueblood on the front page, feeling a lump forming in her throat. Before she knew it, it escaped her lips. "That bastard..." she hissed. Vinyl stared, not expecting to ever hear that word come from Octavia. "Huh?" "That pig-headed, full-of-himself, bigoted bastard…" Vinyl blinked a few times, then shook her head and quickly shifted strategies. "Y-yeah! Can you believe that jerk?" Octavia stood up, pacing back and forth. "He thinks I'm a terrorist? That I'm disgusting? That pony represents everything wrong with Canterlot! He parades around, using some aloof connection to Celestia to tell everypony around him how much better he is. And worst of all, the ponies here worship him anyway! He says that silly 'flanksy' word should be treasured and remembered by all ponies, and then turns around and demands that ponies forget it because he embarrassed himself? And he calls me disgusting?" Sensing an opportunity, Vinyl stood up and followed her around, casually leaning in. "Gee, you're totally right Tavi. I can't believe him. Boy, it would be nice if somepony would show him a thing or two." "Dear Celestia, I would like nothing more than to do so myself," Octavia spat. Her skin was crawling, and in a sudden realization of what she was saying, she fell back on her haunches and threw her hooves over her mouth. “No. Oh, no, not again." "Aw, come on, I know for a fact that you're upset at him. Don't clam up again! Why not give him a taste of—" "Dammit I said no, Vinyl!” The sudden outburst from Octavia stopped Vinyl immediately. Octavia's face turned red and her mouth hung open as she stared at Vinyl, then turned and rushed back into her room, still clutching the newspaper in one hoof and awkwardly slamming the door behind her. --- As the day wore on, Octavia barely let go of her cello. Her face retaining a shade of frustrated red from her outburst, she jumped from song to song, each one growing more erratic than the last, until she was furiously driving the bow across the strings, the sound of the song garbled into a mess. She finally laid the bow down and sat down on her bed, staring at her cello as angry thoughts swirled through her head. “Why isn’t this working...” she mumbled to herself, staring at the cello. She lay her head down on her pillow and stared into space, overcome with confusion and anger and not knowing how to deal with any of it. She rolled over and tried to clear her mind, but instead she found herself staring across the room at the smiling mug of Prince Blueblood. With a grunt of frustration, she rolled out of bed and wandered over to the desk. She read the article again, glaring over the words as she read Blueblood call her every possible name he could likely find in the thesaurus. “Stupid, rude, pretentious...” she grumbled under her breath, feeling herself getting riled up again. Before she knew it, she grabbed a pen from her desk and began to frustratedly scribble on Blueblood's face. Finally feeling her anger start to subside, Octavia had found the outlet she had been looking for. After a few minutes, she sat back and snickered to herself at her own work, looking the ruined picture up and down. Her gaze couldn't leave her drawing, and her mind was stuck on the feeling from the night before, when she realized that there was simply no way around what she had to do next. She had to know. Taking the paper with her, she left her room and walked to the den, where Vinyl was sitting. Vinyl looked up and saw her, her face crestfallen. "Hey, Tavi, listen. About earlier today, I'm sorry for pushing you like that. I'm sure the last thing you need is me bugging you about what happened. If you want me to shut up about the whole spray paint thing, I'll do it. I don't want to—" She stopped herself, realizing the completely conflicted expression on Octavia’s face. Octavia blushed slightly as she struggled to find the right words, then awkwardly thrust the newspaper into her friend. Vinyl took it and immediately started laughing as she looked at it. She glanced up at Octavia, then went quiet as she looked away. "Vinyl, could you, erm…" Octavia began, stumbling over her words. "Look, you are far better at art projects than I am. Could you possibly make a stencil out of this?" Vinyl’s eyes lit up. "Really?!" "Please do not get excited, Vinyl. This means nothing, I assure you. I just…" Octavia sighed, then looked back at Vinyl. "I just need to check something." --- In the middle of the night, Octavia tugged the coat around her body tighter and walked through the chilled, empty streets of Canterlot. Octavia's teeth were chattering from more than just the cool night air. Nerves had set her whole body twitching as she took slow steps, then paused to glance back in the direction of her comforting home. “Why am I doing this?” she quietly wondered as she resumed her quest, carefully scanning the alleys and streets around her. She came to a plaza near the center of Canterlot and snooped around for several minutes before settling on a small, almost entirely hidden alleyway. Walking as far in as she could, she glanced back and forth before turning to the wall in front of her. She pulled out the stencil that Vinyl had made for her, unfolding it and pressing it against the wall. Carefully balancing herself, she reached into her other pocket and ever so gently pulled out a full can of black spray paint. Without putting another thought into it, she began to spray the stencil. She felt a smile creeping across her face as she embraced the moment, happily moving the can back and forth across the paper. When she had finished, she pulled the stencil away and stepped back, gazing at what remained. The smile on her face only grew as she stared at the end product of her work. Out of sheer curiosity, she reached out and wiped a corner of it, then stared at the wet paint dripping off the edge of her hoof. The smile grew as she wiped the paint off on her jacket, then gave the picture one last glance, satisfied with her test. Octavia placed the stencil and can back in the pocket of her coat and left the alley. She slowly gazed out on the completely empty plaza. She had visited it numerous times before, yet tonight it felt different. She surveyed all the buildings and couldn't help but take notice of the numerous blank walls in the area. Suddenly to her, they all looked quite bland. "No, no, no,” she told herself. “You were just here to test something, nothing more. You don't need…" Her thoughts trailed off the more she stared at the empty, blank, open walls, and felt herself reaching back into her pocket to pull out the stencil and can again. She glanced over them for a few moments before feeling the euphoria envelop her again, and a mischievous grin crept across her face as she turned and trotted in the other direction, her eyes now focused on the white wall of a local hardware store. --- Early the next day, Prince Blueblood went for his morning stroll. Wearing his finest cloak and surrounded by his personal security force, he trotted along his path through downtown Canterlot. Finally reaching his first stop—the local BuckStars Café—he entered, and was immediately aware that every eye in the building was on him, but not in the usual way. He glanced back and forth at the ponies in the café, who all seemed to be holding back smirks and giggles as they stared at him approaching the counter. Mocha Roast immediately stood up straight, averting her eyes from Blueblood as she bit her lip, smiling. "Oh, h-hello Prince Blueblood. What can I get for you?" Blueblood continued to glance around the café at the smiling ponies, distracted. "Erm, just the usual. Half-caf skim latte with a shot of vanilla, but not too much vanilla, and exactly one small ice cube so it's not too hot." "Snnrrrrk, coming right up!" As she prepared the drink, Blueblood continued to look around the café, baffled by why everypony seemed to be giggling. Reaching over and grabbing his drink when it was ready, he was about to leave, but instead turned his attention to two younger ponies in the corner of the café, who were openly laughing. "And just what is so funny, you two?" Blueblood demanded, storming over to them. One of them just turned away, while the other desperately tried to contain his giggles. "Oh, nothing, nothing! I guess we're just feeling a bit… flanksy today." The two ponies looked at each other and continued laughing as Blueblood's face went red and he stomped a hoof into the ground. "I made it very clear that I never want to hear that word again! I want you all to forget it! I absolutely refuse to be made the butt of jokes for a single word that I said! I want you to put that word out of your minds forever, do you understand me?!" The two colts just kept on laughing, now joined by several other ponies in the café. Grunting in anger, Blueblood stormed out of the building and walked towards the plaza, taking a sip of his drink before freezing in his tracks, dropping the cup to the ground with a loud clatter as his eyes widened. On every single wall as far as he could see, there were black pictures of him. Numerous ponies were examining them, then looking over at him and giggling. Panicking, Blueblood ran up to the first one he could find to try to pull it off the wall, only to quickly discover that it was painted on. The group scattered, and Blueblood's face trembled as he looked over the image. It was the same picture that he had put in the Canterlot times, but it had been heavily modified: his eyes were comically crossed, he had a forked tongue and horns on the side of his head like some sort of ogre, and his nose had been bent and crooked, turning his beautiful face into some kind of mockery. In an attempt to preserve dignity, Blueblood lunged at the embarrassing painting and covered it with his back. He turned around and realized his attempt was for naught, as all around the plaza he could see copies of the picture with ponies standing around them laughing. Blueblood shot his guards an angry look. “Don’t just stand there, you idiots!” he screamed. “Do something! Arrest ponies, cover the walls, tear them all down if you have to! I want this fixed and I want it fixed now!” The guards just stared at Blueblood, then began to laugh as well. Blueblood’s eyes grew even wider and he pounded his forehooves into the street over and over. “Don’t you dare laugh at me, I am your prince! What could possibly be so funny that you would laugh at me?!” One of the guards slowly raised a shaking hoof. Blueblood blinked and turned around, his eyes widening even further. Stumbling backwards and falling back on his haunches, he looked around and realized, with horror, that the same mark was next to every single picture of his face. It was a cartoonish word balloon, and inside each balloon was a single word that he realized was going to haunt him for a long, long time. "Flanksy." ------------- Exit Through Canterlot End of Chapter 2: The Prince's Pride Special Thanks: Propsy, Razy, Ponky, Worsty, Skirtsy, and Wardeny