//------------------------------// // 8. Beautiful (Part 1) // Story: Exit Through Canterlot // by TheBrianJ //------------------------------// The sun had long since settled behind the Equestrian horizon. The only areas of Canterlot that were well-lit were the parts of Canterlot with thriving night life, leaving the quieter areas shrouded in darkness. Though the moon shone down on the park, its illumination could only go so far. As a result, the park itself almost seemed like a dark void, a massive black hole in the center of Canterlot. Then again, nopony who passed by the area had any interest in the park itself. More importantly, not a single pony looked across the street from the park to one of the alleyways, where a pony had been sitting for almost an hour. Octavia sat in silence; the only thing she could hear was her own breath muffled behind her mask and the rare hoofsteps of a pony passing by on their way somewhere else. Her heart was pounding, her face was sweating despite the cold air, but behind her mask she had a smile on her face. Her eyes had long since adjusted to the darkness and she looked through the metal fence across the street into the park. She gazed at all the trees barren of leaves, the fountain covered in dirt, the bushes along the cobblestone paths that had fallen into disrepair. She glanced down at the bulging duffel bag sitting next to her. "Alright, no need to wait any longer," she told herself, picking the bag up and exiting the alley. She instinctively checked the area, almost expecting a crowd, but there was nary a pony in sight as she trotted across the street and up to the closed gates. Taking the strap of the bag in her hoof, Octavia drew a deep breath, then swung her hoof up as hard as she could, launching the bag into the air. For a precarious second it teetered on the edge of the fence before falling into the park, landing with a crash on the grass. With another long breath, Octavia reached up and wrapped her hoof around a metal pattern in the fence. She had just started to pull herself upwards when she glanced to the left at the gate. With her head cocked to the side, she let go of the fence and trotted to the gate, pushing on one side. The gate slowly swung open and into the park. She sighed, trotting through the gate. "They don't even lock it at night? Goodness," she muttered, walking over to her bag. She slung it back over her shoulder and turned around, surveying the landscape. The first thing that caught her attention was the fountain in the center of the park. The smile on her face grew, and she reached into her bag and pulled out a can. She took a quick glance at it, noting the color on the label, then tossed it up and down in her hoof as she approached the fountain. --- "Canterlot Park!?!" Octavia nodded. "Canterlot Park." Vinyl struggled to find the right way to continue the conversation. She was stunned by the information, but even more so by how calm Octavia was, elegantly playing the Lunar Sonata on her cello. "But... Tavi, that's a major landmark! That's more than a statue of Celestia or some wall; Canterlot Park has been around for centuries!" "I'm well aware," Octavia said with a smile. "That's exactly why it's so perfect." "Perfect? This is kinda a huge jump," Vinyl replied. "Why are you making such a big step forward?" The music slowly stopped. Octavia laid her bow down, then walked over to the window. She stared out at Canterlot Park in the far distance. "Because I want to remind ponies how beautiful Canterlot is." --- Octavia took a step back from the fountain to admire her work. She hadn't put so much effort into one of her art projects before, and as she paced around the fountain she realized just what a difference it made. The fountain, formerly a dull stone grey, was now almost completely purple, with blue jagged waves drawn along the side. The very top of the fountain was a spiral of every color she had in her bag, and each spout was painted a sparkling gold, leaving the top of the fountain shimmering in the moonlight. With her eyes closed, she took a long breath of the cold night air, exhaling it with a smile on her face. "It's perfect," she said. "Absolutely perfect." She dropped an empty can of paint into a nearby trash can, then opened up her duffel bag. She dug through it, counting the number of cans inside. "I suppose I didn't need to bring my full supply..." Octavia zipped the duffel bag up and pulled the strap over her body, then turned towards the gate. She had only taken a few steps when the clanking of the cans in her bag stopped her. She glanced back at the bag, bulging from every side with still full cans. Her tongue pressed into her cheek as she thought, then looked up at her surroundings again. The painted fountain stood out to her in the darkness, but now she noticed all the small trees that dotted the landscape. They were all barren of their leaves, only displaying brown, jagged branches that jutted out in all directions. They all seemed dull, boring; crying out for something. "No," she said, turning around and walking to the closest tree. "I can't just stop here. There has to be more." Octavia dropped her bag down in front of a tree, unzipped it and grabbed the first can she could wrap her hoof around. Without hesitation, she reached up and began to spray the twisted branches. As the brown and dark green of the branches was quickly replaced with pink, Octavia's whole body relaxed. The world around her melted away, and all that was left was the tree in front of her, the pink now almost shimmering in the night. With a content sigh, Octavia finished the top half of the tree. She tossed the half-empty can into her bag and searched for a new color. Suddenly, her ears perked as she heard the sound of hoofsteps, snapping her out of the trance she was in. She shot her head up and looked around, but in the darkness, she couldn't see any pony in the park. Squinting, for a split-second she thought she saw a figure outside the gates, but the figure was gone quickly. Octavia shook her head. "Probably just a late night jogger," she muttered. When she turned back to the tree, her body relaxed again, and she began to spray the trunk. --- "Wait, remind them?" Vinyl asked. "Yes." "That... I think you lost me." Octavia sighed. "Vinyl, Canterlot Park is beautiful. In fact, Canterlot itself is beautiful. But nopony pays any attention anymore: they're wrapped up in fashion, in money, in their own worlds. Tell me, Vinyl, when was the last time you actually went to the park?" Vinyl rubbed the back of her head. "Ah geez, I'm... yeah, I'm not even sure. I usually just walk by it." "That's what most ponies do. I certainly can't remember the last time that I went there," Octavia continued. "That's wrong, Vinyl. The park is so beautiful, far too beautiful to be ignored. So that is what I want to do. I want to remind ponies that Canterlot is beautiful." She opened up a drawer of her desk and pulled a few cans of paint out, shaking them to check how full they were. "I've gone after individual ponies, but I need to do more. I want to change all of Canterlot, and if I want that to happen, I need to think bigger. Much bigger." --- Prince Blueblood yawned and glanced over at the grandfather clock that stood across the study from him. He rubbed his eye with one hoof, then closed the book in front of him. With another loud yawn he stood up and stretched his body out, walking up to the fireplace and levitating a brass poker next to him. He began to separate the logs in the fire when the door to the room opened, and a royal guard stepped through. "Prince Blueblood—" he began, but was almost immediately interrupted. "Make it quick, Damien," Blueblood said. "I was about to retire for the evening." "It's important, sir. I was on patrol and I noticed something in Canterlot Park." Blueblood rolled his eyes, continuing to poke at the fireplace. "I don't think we need to concern ourselves with a lone pony walking through the park at night, or some downtrodden derelict looking for a place to sleep." "Sir, it was Flanksy." At the mention of the name, Blueblood's head turned up. He took a second to compose himself, then finally turned around to look the guard in the eyes. "What was she doing?" he asked through gritted teeth. "She had a large duffel bag. I couldn't see very well, but I believe she's already painted the fountain. As I was leaving, she was beginning to spray the trees in the park." Prince Blueblood's face was already shaking. He took his bathrobe off and tossed it to the side. "Who else is on duty right now that is available?" "Flash and Ridley, sir." "I want you to get them and meet me at the front door in ten minutes," Blueblood said, pushing past the guard. The guard nodded and left the room behind him, starting to walk in the other direction before Blueblood spoke up again. "Damien?" The guard turned around. "Yes, sir?" "Bring a trough." --- A loose dollop of orange paint dropped off a low-hanging branch, dotting the corner of Octavia's ear. She didn't care; she was staring straight up at the tree before her with a smile on her face a mile wide. Her gaze lowered and she looked around the park. Feeling like a filly in a candy store, she whirled around, just taking in the world around her. It had been a long night, but her eyes were now so adjusted to the dark that she could clearly see the fruits of her labor: every tree as far as the eye could see was two different colors. As she took in all the multicolored forest around her, Octavia's heart pounded in excitement. She struggled to keep herself composed, but it was becoming harder and harder. "This... this is perfect," she quietly said, almost as if she couldn't even believe what she had just done. "This is bigger than anything I've ever done in my life..." She turned to her left, and looked at the fountain. For a few seconds she just stared at it, with all the colored trees around it. The emotion became too overwhelming for her to contain, and she leaned her head back. "This is beautiful!" Octavia clamped her hoof over her mouth in embarrassment as her voice echoed throughout the park. Her face turned a bright red as she chuckled, lowering her head again to silently admire her own work. She zipped up her bag and pulled it up over her shoulder, then began her walk out of the park. It only took a few steps for her pace to slow to a crawl. All she could do was look around, amazed at her own work. The euphoria had completely engulfed her, and every time she looked at a different tree, she was met with pure happiness and satisfaction. A part of her didn't even want to leave the park, to just stay there all night. But she kept moving towards the exit, albeit slowly, spurred on by a single thought in the back of her mind. "Just think how wonderful this will look in the daylight." She reluctantly exited the park, taking one look back at the park and sighing contently. She turned around, but something else caught her eye: across the street, next to a dumpster sticking out of an alley, was a large white sheet. With a curious smirk she trotted to it and looked it over; besides being old and torn around the edges, it seemed perfectly fine to her. She unfolded it and pondered for a minute, then looked back at the park. "Why not..." She reached back into her bag, rummaging through until she came across a can that was still mostly full. With a quick shake of the can, she began to spray. --- "I'm just surprised, Tavi," Vinyl said, sitting down on Octavia's bed. "I mean, when you started all of this, you were talking about wanting to embarrass the ponies who deserved it. This seems like a big shift for you." Octavia set the can of paint down and stared up at the ceiling, thinking.  "Let me ask you something, and please do not take offense to it," she said. "Shoot." "Why do you live in Canterlot?" Vinyl cocked her head to the side, caught off guard by the question. "Erm... I have friends here?" "Besides friends who you met here, I mean. The music culture in Canterlot is centered on orchestras and symphonies, much less on dance parties and loud beats. More than half your performances take place in some other city, yet you live here, in the most elegant city in all of Equestria. I know there has to be something beyond friendship." There was a long pause as Vinyl and Octavia stared at each other. Vinyl turned to the window, silently gazing out of it at Canterlot. Seconds ticked by before she finally spoke. "Well... I guess it's because at the end of the day, Canterlot is kinda an awesome city. Yeah, I have my problems with it, and with some of the ponies who live here, but this city is just so friggin' cool sometimes. There's so much to do, there's so much to see, there's always something going on... Sure, the classical music scene isn't really my thing, and there are some real jerks out there, but in the end, the good really does outweigh the bad." Vinyl nodded her head to beckon Octavia over. Octavia joined her next to the window, and Vinyl pointed outside. "Plus, can you think of any other cities with a view like this?" Vinyl said. "I couldn't have said it better myself," Octavia replied. She looked out over Canterlot for a few moments before returning to her desk. "I want to change Canterlot. No, I already have changed Canterlot, but now I want to change it even more. I actually think that Photo Finish was wrong." "Really?" Vinyl asked incredulously. "You think she was wrong about something?" "Well, sort of. She said that she wanted to help me make Canterlot beautiful. But Canterlot already is beautiful. What I need to do is remind the ponies who have forgotten." Octavia took a green can in her hoof, looking it over with a faraway gaze in her eyes. Her head turned to look over at the other side of the room, and Vinyl followed her gaze to the cello leaning against the wall. Octavia sighed, closing her eyes. Her hoof tightened around the can of spray paint, and she smiled. "I need tonight to be more than just vandalism, more than just expressing myself… I need tonight to be a defining moment." --- "I suppose I'm not going to get out of climbing this…" Octavia stared up at the gates in front of her. In her right hoof she clutched the white sheet that she had been writing on for the past several minutes. With a sigh, she reached up and wrapped her hoof around one of the circles that made up the fence's pattern. She lifted herself up, carefully stepping on the other patterns in the fence, until she had reached the top. She pressed her body as close to it as she could to balance herself. With both of her forehooves clutching the corner of the sheet, she pressed it down on the sharpened top of the fence. Something eventually gave and the fence pierced the sheet, giving Octavia a chance to rest her hooves for a minute and let the sheet just hang. She finally grasped the top again with one hoof and the other reaching down to grab the sheet. She carefully shimmied her way across the top of the fence until she was far enough along for the sheet to be taught. Octavia brought the corner up and pushed it down onto the sharp point. When it didn't pierce, she repositioned herself and grabbed both ends of the corner, pressing down harder on it. "Flanksy!" The sudden shout from behind her startled Octavia, forcing her hooves down and finally cutting through the sheet. She momentarily lost her balance and fell backwards, but managed to reach out and wrap her hoof around the top of the fence to stop herself. She exhaled a long sigh, then looked back. Her eyes immediately narrowed as she saw Prince Blueblood staring up at her. She quickly pulled her coat down to make sure her cutie mark was covered as Blueblood stepped forward. "I am demanding that you come down here right now!" he growled. "Canterlot Park is public property!" Octavia glared down at Blueblood. Why on earth should I listen to him? she thought, then hoisted herself up to sit on the edge of the fence, using her free hoof to hold on for stability. Adrenaline surged through her body as she balanced on the edge, and she couldn't help but smile as she saw Blueblood stomp his hoof into the ground. "Dammit, you will listen to me! I am the prince of Canterlot, and I—" Blueblood stopped as he turned towards the sheet hanging up. His brow furrowed as he stepped back to better read the words on it. "THE WORLD IS BEAUTIFUL. LET ME SHOW YOU." His face now shaking with rage, Blueblood stared through the gates to Canterlot Park, then shook his head. "You cannot possibly believe..." he muttered, then glared back up at Octavia, who was absolutely beaming behind her mask. "You honestly believe you are helping Canterlot in some way? That this disgusting 'art' is somehow a positive boon to this city?! If so, you are far more delusional than I thought!" Octavia just rolled her eyes, struggling to maintain a chuckle as she watched Blueblood pace back and forth in frustration, muttering to himself. After what Blueblood had done to her art the week previous, Octavia couldn't resist the opportunity to taunt him. She playfully kicked her hind legs back and forth in front of her as Blueblood's face turned a bright red, trembling even harder. Before she could continue, the sound of synchronized hoofsteps came from the distance. Blueblood smiled. Three guards approached, carrying something on their backs. As they got close, Octavia's body went numb as she realized what it was: a trough full of water. Blueblood chuckled. "I said it before, Flanksy: anything you create, I have the power to destroy." Out of instinct, Octavia leapt down from the fence, landing on all four hooves and dashing in front of the gate of the park. Blueblood followed her, his horn beginning to glow as Octavia crouched down in front of the fence, her front legs tense. "Get out of the way," Blueblood said. When Octavia didn't move, he leaned right into her face. "This is an order from your Prince... Move. Right. Now!" Octavia shook her head in defiance and Blueblood's face turned an angry red. The golden glow on his horn intensified, and the entire trough lifted into the air and landed next to him. The water began to tremble, and a burst of adrenaline shot through Octavia's body. Without thinking about it, she jumped at the trough, but was bounced away by a golden force field that had formed around it. She landed on her back a few feet away, and Blueblood laughed. Octavia stood up, but in the back of her mind, a realization had formed: there was nothing she could do to physically stop Blueblood. However, the adrenaline that was coursing through her veins overrode any thoughts she was having, and she once again jumped in front of the gate. Prince Blueblood stared at her. "You're not just going to step aside, are you..." Octavia shook her head again. Blueblood sighed, then stared past her into the park. He looked over all of the trees in the park, then at the fountain in the far distance—in the dark, he could barely make out the blue and purple pattern on it. Calming himself down, he looked to his right, at the trough of water sitting next to him. He closed his eyes and sighed, then turned to Octavia. "You know what?" He opened his eyes halfway, before he swung his leg back. His hoof connected with the trough which immediately tipped over, spilling its contents all over the cobblestone street. Octavia and the guards looked on in stunned silence as Blueblood turned back to Octavia. "Leave. Just get out of here. You've already done enough damage to Canterlot. Get out of my sight." Octavia couldn't take her eyes off of Blueblood. The adrenaline had begun to wear off, and she realized just the opportunity she had been given. She cautiously trotted over to her bag and slung it over her shoulder, still staring at the prince. She walked backwards, their eyes locked, before she finally turned and trotted off into the night. As she walked, she looked to her right, through the fence and into the park. A smile returned to her face. "Beautiful..." she said quietly, before turning away and leaving through an alley. Prince Blueblood watched until she was well out of sight, then walked to the gate of the park. He pulled it open, frowning at it as one of the guards stepped forward. "I must admit that I'm surprised, sir. I figured you would have done something—" He was interrupted by a laugh from Prince Blueblood. "What makes you think I'm not going to do something?" he said. "I'm merely taking a look at the bigger picture. I might just be able to stop Flanksy dead in her tracks right now." Blueblood slammed the gate shut, then turned and motioned for the guards to follow him. "We have a little work to do tonight, gentlecolts." --- "You know, Tavi, if you keep smiling like that your head is gonna split in half." Octavia and Vinyl trotted through Canterlot in the early morning hours the next day. Octavia couldn't help but smile; not only was the satisfaction of what she had done the night before still running through her mind, but now she was going to see it up close in the light. "I can't help it," she replied. "I just can't wait to see how the park looks in the daylight. I can only imagine that ponies are already there." Vinyl chuckled. "Yeah, and as soon as they see you, they'll be asking 'boy, that one pony sure seems excited about all of this!'" Octavia blushed as they turned the corner. "I'll try to contain myself as best I can. It will be difficult, though..." Octavia trailed off as they approached the park. She stared at the scene in front of her: ponies were all crowded around the sign that she had hung up, talking to each other. Vinyl's eyes widened. "Whoa, awesome. Look how many ponies are here!" "...Something's wrong," Octavia muttered. Vinyl looked over at her, confused. "Huh? What do you mean, something's not right? Looks fine to me. When's the last time you saw the park this busy? Everypony is talking, everypony is—" "They're just at the gates," Octavia said, her pace quickening. "Why aren't they in the park itself?" "Maybe it's not open yet?" Vinyl responded, but Octavia shook her head. "Last night at midnight it was open. They never lock the gates." They reached the back of the crowd, and Octavia carefully worked her way through them to the front. Vinyl joined her, getting to the front to find Octavia staring up in shock at the gates. A massive chain had been wrapped around them, with a padlock securing them shut. A sign had also been hung on the gates themselves, with "NO ADMITTANCE" displayed in large block letters. A guard stoically stood in front of the gate, monitoring the ponies who were in the area. Octavia didn't say anything, so Vinyl stepped around her and in front of the guard. "Yo, mister guard. What's going on here, why is the park closed?" The guard momentarily glared down at her. "First off, my name is Ridley. As you can probably see through the gates, the park was the target of an attack by Flanksy last night." Octavia ground her teeth together at the word "attack." Vinyl glanced past the guard into the park, looking at the multicolored trees. "For an attack, it seems pretty harmless to me," Vinyl said nonchalantly. The guard shook his head. "Prince Blueblood wasn't interested in hearing public opinion on this just yet. He ordered the park closed until such time as he can reach a decision." "Whaaaat?" Vinyl replied. "Why on earth would he close the park? What decision?" "I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to go into any more detail at this time." Vinyl rolled her eyes, then carefully pushed her way back through the crowd. After a minute, Octavia emerged as well, and the two walked out of earshot of the ponies who were still gathered. They started their walk back when Octavia spoke up. “Hmmmmm...” Vinyl turned to Octavia. "What’s wrong?" “Something about this seems off. Last night, he just kicked the trough over and let me leave. Now, he’s closing the park? The guard can’t give any detail ‘at this time?’” Vinyl shrugged. “Just sounds like a lot of posturing to me.” “No...” Octavia said, her voice lowering. “There has to be something more to his actions here, there just has to be. What if he’s planning something big, what if—” "You're over-thinking this," Vinyl interrupted. "You know how Prince Blueblood is: he's all neigh, no buck. As soon as somepony calls him out on this, he'll relent." Vinyl kept trotting, but paused when she realized Octavia had stopped. She looked back at her friend, whose concerned face caught her off guard. "I've seen firsthand that when he is passionate about something, he is willing to act on it," she replied. "This is the first time I've ever seen Blueblood be so dedicated. He is planning something, I just know it..." Octavia went quiet, lowering her head. Vinyl patted her on the shoulder. "Listen, Tavi. I know you're worried. I know that him cleaning up your work really hurt you. But that was just a show of force. When it comes down to it, I don't think he has the guts to actually try to change anything." There was an awkward silence. Octavia stepped forward, shaking her head. "I... I don't want this to end," she quietly said. "The park is one of the most important things I've done in... in my life. He can't just erase this. Not before ponies have had a chance to see it in full." Her head lowered again, but this time Vinyl pulled her back up. "Don't worry. I know how important this is to you, but I still don't think you have to be nervous about this. Blueblood is just trying to make a big show of his authority. In a day or two, the park is gonna be unlocked, and then everypony is gonna see how awesome the it looks up close." Vinyl smiled again. Octavia met her eyesight and mustered a half-smile. "I hope you're right, Vinyl. I really do." --- The next day, Vinyl trotted happily out of the music shop, a small stack of records hovering behind her. She paused in the middle of the street, excitedly floating them in front of her and looking through the new purchases. Octavia was busy all day—she had been asked to perform in a small orchestra at a music festival outside of the city—so Vinyl had been in the mood to just spend a day exploring Canterlot. "Hmmm, I haven't been to Paddock Place Market in a while," she said, dropping the records into a bag. "I could probably kill a few hours there." She took a step forward, but immediately bumped head-first into a pony she hadn't noticed. She fell back, gasping and managing to catch her records in a burst of magic before they hit the ground. "Oh geez, sorry about that," she said. She looked over at the pony she had run into, realizing that it was a royal guard. "Not a problem," he replied. He started to walk away, but Vinyl looked at his face, then rolled up to her feet and trotted alongside him. "Hey, you're that pony from yesterday, the one who was guarding the park. Ridley, right?" she asked. "That's correct. Is there something else I can help you with?" Vinyl noticed a few large pieces of paper rolled beneath the guard's wing. "What's on the paper?" "You'll see in a minute." "Oooh, semi-top secret? Exciting!" Vinyl smiled, but the guard remained as stoic as ever, trotting with purpose towards Canterlot Park. Vinyl frowned, then followed him. "Hey, mind if I ask you a question?" "Go ahead." "What do you think of the whole Flanksy thing? I mean, you were guarding the park pretty well..." "I take my orders from Prince Blueblood. It doesn't matter what my opinion is on the matter. Blueblood asked me to guard the park; therefore, I guarded the park." "That doesn't answer my question," Vinyl taunted. "Come on, forget about Blueblood for a minute. What do you think of everything?" The guard shook his head. "It isn't my place to talk about that." "What, you afraid that a little expression will get you fired? Be an individual!" The guard stopped, near the gate of the park. He sighed, then turned around to face off with Vinyl. "I find it deplorable. To defy Prince Blueblood is one thing, but the way she has treated Her Majesty Princess Celestia is absolutely unforgivable." The guard pointed out at the park. "The fact that she can do this, and think it's somehow making Canterlot more beautiful, as if she is some sort of savior for Canterlot? It's wrong." The guard took a deep breath to calm down. After a few moments, he continued. "I understand that a lot of ponies like what she does. But there are just as many ponies who hate it. Which is why I am so thankful that Prince Blueblood is going to be doing something about all of this." With a huff, the guard turned around and unfurled one of the posters. He flew up to the top of the fence and hung it on the gate, then nodded in satisfaction and took off into the sky. Vinyl stared after him in surprise, then looked over at the poster. A chill shot through her body, and she nearly dropped the records she was still floating next to her. "Oh, no..." she muttered quietly, then looked around. Ponies were just starting to gather around the poster, so she carefully backed up through the crowd, then turned and trotted off. "What time does Tavi get home again..." --- TOWN HALL MEETING CALLED SATURDAY, 8:00 PM This Saturday, His Excellency Sir Bluebood, Prince of Canterlot, has called a town meeting for any citizens of Canterlot, to be held in the Castle Auditorium, at 8:00 PM. Prince Blueblood will host the event, which will also be attended by Her Majesty Princess Celestia, Ruler of all Equestria. Any and all citizens are urged to attend this open forum and give their own opinions on the subject. At the end of the night, a decision will be reached by Princess Celestia herself. WHAT SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT FLANKSY? --------------- End of Chapter 8: Beautiful (Part 1) Special Thanks: PhilProps J. Fry, Turanga Worstla, Doctor John Razberg, and Warden "Warding" Rodriguez