Vinyl just stared at Octavia. Her ears rang with what Octavia had just said, but she was hoping that she had somehow misheard. She took a step forward, her head bowed down and turned to one side as if trying to shake the thought out of her head.
“What do you mean ‘not quite yet?’” she said.
“I mean exactly that,” Octavia said as she pushed the newspaper towards Vinyl and pointed her hoof at the paragraph in question. Vinyl snatched up the paper and read through the article again before she finally got to what Octavia had been pointing at. It took her a few seconds to put two and two together, and she looked back up at Octavia.
“No,” Vinyl finally muttered. “No no no. Octavia, you’re not.”
“I am,” Octavia said as she pulled out her sketch pad. “After everything they’ve done, they still get a plaque and a celebration. Ponies still don’t understand that their actions have consequences. This will be my chance to spell it out for them once and for all.”
Vinyl sat down on the bed and read through the article again. She finally put it to the side.
“Octavia… don’t do this.”
“What?”
“You heard me,” Vinyl said louder. “Don’t do this. What more do you need to do? What more do you have to prove? You attacked Pinkie Pie, then you broke into their houses and wrecked them. Why do you need to do anything else? You’ve proven your point: you hate the Elements of Harmony!”
Octavia thrust her sketch pad downwards and whipped her head to to stare at Vinyl.
“Excuse me?” she practically shouted. “My point? The point of all of this is not just proving that I don’t like them!”
Vinyl turned away. “Sure could have fooled me.”
Octavia’s face trembled and she turned back to her sketch pad. “This is about showing that the Elements of Harmony are not the perfect, innocent ponies that they are made out to be by so much of Equestria, and especially by Princess Celestia herself! For once, a pony is actually out there and exposing them for the entitled, worshiped fakes that they are. Ponies have been told about their exploits, about how they are such wonderful and flawless creatures. But I am living proof that they are not flawless, that they are not perfect, that they can be just as short-sighted as any other pony. Even moreso because they have a sense of entitlement and the full support of Princess Celestia, who allows them to do whatever they want to do! Don’t you think that they are hardly the innocent ponies most make them out to be?”
"I'm not about to say they're innocent," Vinyl said, "but don't you think that something like 'defeating Discord' is worthy of being celebrated? It's a big deal for everypony, can't you—"
"Well the Gala was a big deal for me!" Octavia shouted. "The Garden Party was a big deal for me! If they're completely fine with ruining my celebrations, I am more than willing to ruin theirs."
"So this is just about an eye for an eye now? You're completely abandoning all pretense of creativity? You know, there are ponies out there who loved Flanksy not because she was rebelling, but because of what she created! What happened to all of that?"
"It's not my focus right now," Octavia replied. "My focus right now is the Elements. My focus right now is ruining that event."
With that, Octavia stood up, put her sketch pad away and grabbed her bag out of her closet. She left the room, with Vinyl glaring after her.
"Where are you going?" Vinyl asked.
"The dedication isn't for another two days," Octavia said. “But if you think I'm just going to wait until then to do something—”
“You just went to Ponyville to break into their damn houses, now you’re planning on doing something to their big dedication of the new statue and plaque. Isn’t that enough?” Vinyl leapt up to her hooves and followed Octavia. “Why do you have to do more?”
“Because after everything they did to me, did to other ponies, they deserve this.”
“You’ve used that word so much lately,” Vinyl remarked. “But come on! Does anypony deserve to have this much done to them?” When Octavia didn’t respond, Vinyl ran up right next to her. “Don’t ignore me, I don't think this conversation is over yet, Octavia! You can't just leave!"
"Why not?” Octavia muttered. “Every time you bring this up with me, we just go in circles."
"That's because you're not listening!" Vinyl yelled, trying to get Octavia's attention as she opened the front door. "You're just still angry and letting your anger get to you. Would you just listen to me for a minute? You need to cut this crap out and get back to real art!"
Octavia paused and looked back at Vinyl. There was a long silence before she just turned back on Vinyl and left, closing the door behind her. Vinyl let out a long sigh, staring at the closed door before finally turning and walking over to her record collection. She shoved the records back and forth until she picked one out. She practically slammed the record down on her player and picked up the needle, but paused and looked back at the door. She half-expected—hoped—that Octavia would suddenly be back, but when she once again confirmed that she was alone in the apartment, she let out a long sigh and let the needle drop to the side of the record. Instead she slowly trotted over to the couch and laid down, staring in silence at the ceiling.
----------
Preparations were underway for the official dedication of the new statue for the Elements of Harmony. It had already been unveiled, but a large red ribbon hung around it, to be officially cut during the ceremony. A small stage had been set up behind it where speeches would be made, while decorations were just beginning to be set up on either side of the street.
At the moment, however, all eyes were on Flanksy.
Octavia finished drawing the final red X over the gray butterflies she had drawn, then stepped back for a moment to admire her work. The wall was adorned with the six cutie marks of the Elements of Harmony, each drawn with blacks, whites, and grays, and large red X’s had been drawn over each of them. She dropped the can of paint back into her bag and was about to zip it up, when the corner of her eye caught the statue that sat only a few feet away, along with the large sign promoting the celebration. At the very bottom of the sign was a sentence, one that stood out to Octavia more than anything: “Come to the unveiling and celebrate harmony!” Octavia’s sight turned upward towards the statue of the six Elements of Harmony, all frozen in a happy pose without a care in the world.
“Harmony…” she muttered in frustration, then whirled back around and pulled another can out of her bag. “They really think those ponies represent harmony?” She turned back to the wall and began to write in large letters next to her work, drawing surprised murmurs from the crowd behind her.
“I DON’T ACCEPT THEIR HARMONY.”
With a satisfied smirk she shoved the can of paint back into her bag and slung it over her shoulder, then trotted away to leave the remaining ponies to look over her work. She slipped into a side alley, working her way through the back streets of Canterlot before she was sure that nopony could see her, before she sat down behind a dumpster and removed her outfit. She slowly dropped it on top of the paint, then just looked straight ahead, breathing quietly. Minute after minute ticked by as her gaze shifted down at the cans of paint and her disguise in her bag, mentally going over what would happen the next day in her head.
“Only one more day until that dedication,” she said to herself. “One more day until I can finally go after that statue, in front of all the ponies there to celebrate those pathetic excuses for harmony.”
She had just begun to finally zip up her bag when the sounds of a commotion coming from afar distracted her. She instinctively jammed her duffel bag behind the dumpster next to her, then made her way back through the alleys until the noise grew louder. It sounded like numerous ponies arguing, but one of the voices stood out, a shrill yell whose shouts rang out through the streets. Octavia slowly peeked her head out around the corner to see that where she had just been, where the celebration was to commence, ponies were now all gathered in a circle, with some sort of loud argument occurring in the center. Octavia walked towards the group, where she began to hear the voices a lot clearer, one of them far angrier than the others.
"Where is she?!" the voice yelled.
"Please, calm down," a more authoritative voice said.
"After this?" the voice screamed back. "After what she did, and you guys want me to calm down?
Octavia slowly worked her way over to the commotion and carefully pushed through the crowd until she could see what was happening. Several Royal Guards were on alert as one pony stood in the very center, yelling at them and glaring around frantically. A single flash of her multicolor mane was all it took for Octavia to recognize Rainbow Dash, one of the Elements of Harmony and arguably the most well-known pegasus in all of Equestria.
She choked back the angry lump in her throat as she watched Rainbow Dash pace back and forth in anger, then take off a few feet over the guards and look at the crowd.
"Miss Dash, please! There is no need to cause a scene," one of the guards said, flying up next to her. "Flanksy has been creating this art in Canterlot for months now, and—“
"I'm not talking about Canterlot; I'm talking about Ponyville!" Rainbow yelled as she flew right up to the guard, pressing her nose into his. "She attacked our houses, she made my friends miserable... she made Fluttershy cry! Do you really think I'm just going to let that happen?!"
“Miss Dash, there is no concrete proof that it was her who—“
"Oh don't give me that!" Rainbow interjected. "Nopony saw her, but we know for a fact that it was her! Now tell me where she is!"
The guard shook his head. "She hides her identity, we don't know who she is."
"Well then find out!" Rainbow pushed past the guard and looked over the paint on the wall. She tilted her head to one side, then pressed her hoof against the wall and pulled it back, examining the wet paint on her hoof.
"Wait, this is still wet?" she asked. "How recently did she paint this?"
"Um, she was only here about ten or fifteen minutes ago," a pony in the crowd said. Rainbow stared down at them in shock.
"Why the hay didn't anypony tell me that?!" she yelled. She flew down and grabbed a discarded piece of cloth from the ground and began to wipe the paint as much as she could, flying back and forth across the wall as she smeared all the paint, trying to clean it off.
"How can you guys just not care about this?" Rainbow said as she flew past "You guys are like the Canterlot police! Shouldn't you be out searching for her or something? Or, like, cleaning this up?”
"While in Canterlot, she technically has not broken any laws," a guard said. "Plus, Prince Blueblood wants us to—“
"Blueblood is in charge?" Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. "Geez, no wonder nothing’s being done.” She turned back to the wall and continued to wipe it as much as she could, only succeeding in turning it into a red and grey mess.
Octavia watched as the art she had just put up got more and more unrecognizable. It took every fiber of her being to maintain her composure, to not march forward and yank Rainbow Dash straight out of the air. With every swipe that Rainbow made across the paint, Octavia’s back hooves dug into the ground below her. Without her disguise, without the paint in her hoof, without her face covered, she felt completely helpless. Finally, a guard flew up next to Rainbow Dash, stopping her.
"Miss Dash, please! This isn’t helping anything,” he said, only for the paint-smeared cloth to land on his nose.
"I don't know who or where this Flanksy is, but since you guys aren't going to do anything about this, I am!" Rainbow said. "I'm not leaving Canterlot until I find her. I'm not going to let her get away with what she did to my friends. And if any of you ponies see her around, you tell her that Rainbow Dash is looking for her!"
With that, Rainbow Dash turned around and took off in a flash, flying off above the rooftops and scanning the city. The guards flew up after her and the assembled crowd slowly began to go back about their day. As the crowd dispersed, Octavia stared up at the wall. The cutie marks, the red X's, the sentence next to it; all of it had been smeared together by Rainbow Dash into a slurry of reddish-grey. She bit her tongue to prevent herself from yelling, then slowly turned and trotted away as calmly as possible towards the nearest alley. She quietly trotted through the back streets of the city until she had finally made her way back to where her disguise and paint had been stored.
Octavia sat down next to the dumpster and pulled the bag out from behind it. She silently stared down at her paint-flecked coat and the half-empty red can of paint that sat on top of it.
After a few seconds, she spun to one side and drove her hoof angrily into the dumpster next to her with enough force to put a dent in it. Her hoof throbbed in pain, but she paid no attention to it.
"That miserable excuse for a pony!" she said, driving her hoof into the dumpster over and over. "That ignorant moron! If she's going to do that..."
She jammed her duffel back into the garbage bag and exited through a different alleyway, heading straight back towards her home. Once again her every nerve was focused on maintaining her composure in public, but her angry steps and tense muscles were betraying her attempts. She momentarily paused and leaned up against a wall to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down.
"Stupid, pathetic..." she whispered to herself, hoping to let out enough anger to make it home without snapping. She suddenly felt a light tap on her shoulder and nearly jumped out of her fur, turning quickly to find herself face to face with a purple unicorn.
"Oh. You," Octavia muttered through deep breaths.
"Hi," Amethyst Star meekly said. "Sorry if I startled you. I was over at the statue and I saw what Rainbow Dash did and, well, I've been sorta following you. Are you okay?"
Octavia glanced around, then nodded her head to the side to beckon Amethyst to follow her. They trotted back into another alley, Amethyst glancing behind her nervously the further they got in. Once they were well out of sight, Octavia grabbed the bag she had been carrying and hurled it in anger at the wall, startling Amethyst.
“I cannot believe her!” she said. “I cannot believe them! All they have done, time after time, is make my life miserable! Their entire existence is to create ‘harmony,’ but they have ruined my harmony time after time after time. And now that cocky pegasus comes to Canterlot and is looking for me?! After everything that’s happened, she should be apologizing, not attacking me!”
Octavia breathed through her clenched teeth, then glared to her right. Amethyst Star had taken a step back and was staring at her in stunned silence. She finally spoke, her voice quiet and quivering.
“Um… But after what you did in Ponyville, I’m not surprised that she’s angry,” she quietly said. “I mean, you broke into their houses, right? Of course she’s upset.”
“I don’t care if she’s upset! After what she’s done, she deserves it!” Octavia said.
“I…” Amethyst mumbled. “I don’t agree.”
Octavia just stared at her. “What? After everything you’ve said about me, after everything you’ve said about my art influencing you, you’re on their side?”
“It’s not like that,” Amethyst replied as she traced a hoof around one of the cobblestones in the ground. “It’s just that, well, I like art. I like how pretty it is, I like the stuff that you’ve been saying with it. But, I dunno… I prefer it when it’s just art. I don’t like all the conflict. I kinda wish you would go back to just painting.”
Amethyst looked back up at Octavia, who was just quietly looking at her. She looked to the right, away from Amethyst, just taking in what her biggest fan had said.
“I understand that what I did in Ponyville escalated things,” she finally said. “Maybe even went too far. But you know what? I don’t care. After everything they’ve done to me, after the free rides and preferential treatment that Celestia has given them, they’ve brought this on themselves.”
“But it’s not art anymore,” Amethyst said. “It’s just—”
Amethyst didn’t finish as Octavia picked her bag up and walked past her.
“This is still art. It is art in the name of a cause that I believe in,” she said. “I believe that the Elements of Harmony deserve all of this. I believe that what I am doing is still right. And if you disagree… well, I’m sorry to hear that.”
Octavia calmly walked forward and exited the alley. She trotted out of sight, leaving Amethyst alone in the alley.
Amethyst stood quietly, just looking out at where Octavia had left. “B-but…”
----------
Octavia packed a few more cans into her bag, then laid her jacket, bandana, and face mask on top of them. She looked out her window at the slowly setting sun, then over at her clock; only one hour to go before the dedication of the statue began.
She looked to the left where her cello sat in the corner; all she could see of it were the scratches along the side from the Gala. Her eyes narrowed and she shoved another can down into the bag, then grabbed her sketch pad. She sat back on the bed and flipped through the pages, looking at the myriad of drawings she had created. As she looked through it, there was a knock at her door.
"Come in," she said stoically. The door opened up and Vinyl stepped through. Octavia momentarily glanced up at her. "I haven't seen you since yesterday morning."
"I’ve been out," Vinyl replied. "I just want to talk right now. No angry fighting, no yelling, just a talk."
"That's fine, but I'm leaving soon."
Vinyl trotted over next to her. "That's what I want to talk about," she said. "I really, really, really want you to reconsider doing this."
"I know you do. You've made that very clear. But I'm still going to do it."
Vinyl bit her lip, then shook her head. "Look, Octavia. I'm just going to say this to you straight up. I don't want to hide anything, I don't want to hold back anything, I'm just going to tell you exactly what I think. You've never been this angry at anything in your life, at least not that I've seen. Your anger is understandable, but this much? There has to be a point where you just let yourself calm down, not keep escalating.”
"As soon as they stop escalating, I will too," Octavia said as she flipped to another page.
Again, Vinyl bit her lip to keep herself from getting worked up. She took a long breath. "I don't think they're the ones ramping this up. I mean, the Garden Party was just a mistake, I don't think they meant to hurt you or anyone. But then you attacked Pinkie, then went down to Ponyville. Not to mention that every day for the past few days you’ve gone out and done something. If anything, you’re in the wrong, not them!"
Octavia pushed her sketch pad down and looked over at her friend. "I am not in the wrong, Vinyl! After everything they have done to me, nothing I could do would put me on the wrong side against them."
"That's just it!" Vinyl yelled, then paused to calm herself down "That's just it. You say it's you against them... that's a bad mindset to be in. Don't you remember the park? That was the coolest thing you've ever done. Don't you remember how happy you were, just sitting there and watching how happy everypony was? You have to go back to that! You're letting your anger get in the way of your message."
"My message is that the Elements of Harmony are worthless," Octavia snapped back. "And the best way to explain that message is to show everypony how worthless they are."
"Why?" Vinyl pressed her hoof into the bed. "Why does it have to be about hurting other ponies? Is it necessary at all? Just go back to what you were doing before!"
"This is about proving a point. Especially after what that pegasus did earlier."
Vinyl looked down at the ground. "I heard about that... from what I can gather, Rainbow Dash has always had a bit of a short temper. I don't know, I think she was just being protective of her friends.
"I don't care how protective of them she was being!" Octavia again snapped at Vinyl, causing her eyes to narrow. "They don't have to be protected, nor should they be. And if she's going to go after my art and erase it like that, I will gladly confront her about it."
"Confront her? You don't need to fight her! Can't you just ignore that and—”
"Shut up, Vinyl!" Octavia yelled. "Don't tell me to just ignore something like that!"
Vinyl stared at Octavia. "Did you just tell me to shut up?"
Octavia zipped up her bag, nodding. Vinyl looked away for a second, closing her eyes. She took in a deep breath, then leapt to her hooves.
"You wanna act like that?" she snorted, looking Octavia right in the eyes. "You want to fight? Fine, let's fight! What you are doing is crazy! You’ve totally lost it and are doing more damage to yourself than the Elements ever did! Don't justify this crap as if they are some group of horrible villains. The worst thing they have done is not realizing what they've done!"
Octavia leapt up as well and got in Vinyl's face. "The worst thing they have done is spread their form of 'harmony' without bothering to check the consequences! That is where I come in, I am showing ponies those consequences!"
"How, by attacking ponies, breaking their windows, and now accepting a call out like you're some sort of fighter?" Vinyl yelled. "This is ridiculous! This is insane! You're not a victim here, Octavia!"
"Not a victim?! Ever since the Gala—“
"The Gala, the Gala, the Gala!" Vinyl said, turning away. "Dear Celestia, let it go!!"
There was a long silence. Vinyl slowly inhaled and exhaled through her nose, trying to compose herself. Octavia took a step forward and tilted her head to one side.
"What did you just say?"
"I... I said let it go," Vinyl finally replied. "I know you don't want to hear that, but you have to. Remember when I got passed up for the main act at Burning Mare? I was angry for some time, but I had to move on. You have to too, Octavia. You're gonna completely lose it. Please, just forget about it. I don't want you to be so angry, I don't want you to get in trouble, and I want my best friend back. Please, Octavia. You don’t have to do any of this. You have a choice here. You can let things go, you can move on, Flanksy can go back to being the coolest artist in Canterlot. Just… just move on. I’m begging you.”
Once again, silence filled the room. Octavia and Vinyl’s gazes remained locked on each other. Vinyl slowly reached up and rested her hoof on Octavia’s shoulder, but Octavia stepped to the side.
“Let it go? Let it go?” she yelled.
“Octavia, please…”
“No!” Octavia interrupted. “You really expect me to just let this go? They ruined the the most important night of my life, and you expect me to just let it go? They came back and did it again! Two of them have outright gone out of their way to destroy my art, and I’m just supposed to let it go?! Vinyl, I thought you were the one supporting me, the one who pushed me to express myself!”
“There is a difference between expressing yourself and letting anger control your whole life!”
“No, Vinyl! I’m not just going to let it go! And I am shocked that I appear to have lost my greatest supporter. I’m sorry that you’re not on my side anymore, Vinyl, but if that’s how it’s going to be, then so be it!”
Octavia shoved past Vinyl and flung open her bedroom door. She stormed towards the front door, dragging the garbage bag behind her, as Vinyl rushed after her.
“Octavia, you—“
“You don’t support me anymore, Vinyl,” Octavia seethed. “My best friend, a pony who I thought would always be there to back me up. But if you’re not going to, then I’m leaving.”
She pulled the front door open as Vinyl reached out towards her. “Come on—“ was all she got out before Octavia spun round. Her face was trembling and there was a fire burning in her gaze.
“Enough!” she yelled. “I’ve made my decision, and clearly you have made yours! I don’t want to hear another word out of you. I cannot believe you, Vinyl! After all of this, to be so against me, to claim I should just forget about the worst night of my life, to think I should just let the ponies who did it get away with it… if you really think all of that, then you can just… just… rot in hell!”
Octavia turned around and left, slamming the door behind her with such force that it shook the apartment. Vinyl just stood completely still, not a single muscle in her body so much as twitching, simply staring quietly at the closed door.
----------
"... and so, it is with great honor that we officially dedicate this statue to the ponies who saved Canterlot, and all of Equestria, from the wrath of chaos that Discord wrought."
To the sound of applause from the crowd, the emcee the front of the stage levitated up a large pair of scissors and cut the ribbon that had been wrapped around the statue. The small band to the side began to play as the festivities officially began, with ponies admiring the statue and talking amongst themselves. Although the decorations were extravagant, the mood of the event was far more laid back than the usual events in Canterlot, as ponies came and went as they pleased and made pleasant conversation with one another.
Octavia didn’t pay attention, or even so much as notice, any of them.
The second she put her disguise on, she left the alley; there was no hesitation, no pause to even think. She just walked straight ahead with a purpose. As she got closer, ponies noticed her and began to murmur, but Octavia shoved past them and headed towards the center of the celebration. Very quickly the ponies gathered turned to look at her as she pushed her way forward until she reached the statue. She threw her bag down next to it and unzipped it, pulled out a red can of paint and immediately began to spray. All of her plans, all of the designs in her head were now a jumbled mess. She didn’t care about a message and she didn’t care about some kind of beautiful pattern. The only thing she was concerned with now was making the statue as ugly as the ponies it represented.
They deserve this, she thought to herself as she pressed down even harder on the nozzle. Everything I’ve done, they’ve deserved. I don’t care what they say.
More and more ponies were talking, their voices ringing in Octavia’s ears for the first time that she could remember. She tried to ignore them as she tossed the can of red paint to the side and grabbed whatever can she got her hoof on first. She had just started to reach up when a hoof grabbed her shoulder.
“You!!”
Octavia was spun around and she found herself nose-to-nose with Rainbow Dash. She was almost pressing her own face into Octavia’s, her teeth bared and her body hunched over as if she was ready for a fight.
“So you’re Flanksy!” Rainbow Dash yelled, her voice loud enough to quiet all the ponies around them. “What is wrong with you!? Just who the hay do you think you are?”
Octavia just stared into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. Neither pony budged an inch, before the emcee who had cut the ribbon earlier slowly approached.
“Miss Dash, she’s a painter,” the pony quietly said as she reached out to try to separate the two to no avail. “She’s responsible for several murals around Canterlot, along with—”
“Yeah?” Rainbow replied without looking away from Flanksy. “Well she’s also responsible for breaking into the houses of my closest friends and wrecking the places, not to mention throwing paint on Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow finally looked around at all the ponies staring at the confrontation, then back to the paint-covered statue. “Why the hay are all you ponies just standing around and letting her do this? What is wrong with all of you?!”
“Well, a lot of ponies do like her work,” the emcee said. She tried to calmly move Rainbow Dash, but the pegasus waved her off.
“You what?!” Rainbow looked back at Flanksy. Despite the mask, she could swear that Flanksy was smiling. She pressed her forehead into hers, causing Flanksy to press right back. “How could any pony actually like her?”
“I think it’s because some ponies in Canterlot just like her art,” the pony said.
“You like her art?” Rainbow Dash suddenly leapt up and grabbed one of the banners hanging above. She swooped back down and hovered over the statue, rubbing it with the banner to clean off the paint. “I’m not going to let her insult my friends like this anymore!”
Octavia watched in shock as Rainbow quickly flew in circles around the statue, wiping the paint she had sprayed on only moments before. Her whole body trembled as Rainbow landed back down in front of her, then held up the banner.
“You think this is art? I wasn’t aware that insulting other ponies was considered the same is painting a picture of a mountain range!”
The emcee stepped forward. “Well, she’s also painted many other things. As I said, she’s made many colorful murals that she seems quite proud of—“
“Is that all you care about? Color?!” Rainbow Dash finally turned around and held up her own tail in front of the emcee’s face. “Here! Here’s some color! I’m proud of it, but I showed it to you without hurting other ponies! Does that make me an artist?”
Rainbow Dash let go of her tail and continued yelling at the emcee. Octavia looked back at the statue, with the few colors she had sprayed on it now all jumbled together into a smear. Her body was shaking as she looked back at Rainbow Dash, still arguing with the emcee. The words blurred together as Octavia stared at her, then at her multicolored tail that swung back and forth. Octavia turned back to the statue, this time noticing something that sat against the statue’s base: the pair of scissors that the emcee had used to cut the ribbon. Octavia’s eyes narrowed and she hurled the can of paint in her hoof behind her, then reached down and grabbed the pair of scissors.
If she’s going to destroy something I’m so proud of…
Before anypony could react, she cut half of Rainbow Dash’s tail off.
A massive gasp rose through the crowd as Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. She slowly turned her head back to look at her now short tail, then her sight lowered to the other half of her tail, now lying limply on the ground as wisps of it were lost to the wind. Her jaw dropped slightly as she slowly looked up at Flanksy, who calmly put the scissors back down on the ground. Octavia just stood with a smile hidden behind her mask, while Rainbow Dash looked down at the ground and closed her eyes. For a few moments, everything was silent; everypony was too stunned and too afraid to say anything.
Without warning, Rainbow Dash pounced.
Octavia barely had time to comprehend what was happening before Rainbow Dash slammed into her and forced her back into a wall. She momentarily opened her eyes in time to see Rainbow Dash's hoof swinging forward. A burst of pain shot through Octavia's body as Rainbow Dash's hoof slammed into her chest, driving the wind out of her. Before she could move, Rainbow swung again, this time landing a glancing blow to Octavia’s cheek. Octavia's mind suddenly went into autopilot and she leapt forward, tackling Rainbow Dash as they spilled off the wall and to the ground amidst the sea of shocked ponies. Rainbow Dash reared her hoof up again for another strike but Octavia shoved her away, only for Rainbow Dash to jump right back on her.
They rolled to the side as Octavia finally shoved Rainbow Dash off, then leapt back to her hooves. Before Rainbow could move forward, several royal guards rushed up and grabbed her.
"Miss Dash, calm down!" one of them shouted.
"Let me go!" she screamed, writhing back and forth to try to escape the clutches of the guards. "She deserves it! She cut off my damn tail! She hurt my friends!!"
Absolute pandemonium broke out. Ponies were shouting and trying to get a better view of the incident, the guards were rushing in, and many of the ponies who were presiding over the plaque reveal were now cowering. Amidst all the confusion, Octavia woozily shoved her way through the crowd, breaking into a gallop as soon as she had gotten free. Her vision was blurred, her ears were ringing, and her chest throbbed with pain as she nearly tripped over her own hooves, losing her balance. As she stumbled back to her hooves, a thought raced through her mind.
My bag!
Octavia spared a quick look back at the statue. Rainbow Dash was still struggling with the royal guards, but she could see her bag still sitting next to the statue in the midst of all the chaos. For a split second she slowed down to retrieve it, but when more guards rushed into the scene to try to calm the situation down, she shook her head and turned away.
“Not now,” she said, sending another pain through her chest. “I can’t go back now.”
"Where did Flanksy go?" she heard one of guards yell far behind her, sending a burst of adrenaline through her body as she lowered her head and galloped faster. As soon as she saw an alley she turned into it and ran at full speed. With one last burst of strength she galloped all the way to the back, then ducked behind the corner.
She fell back against the wall and clutched her chest in pain. She slumped down to the ground and rested her head on the wall, closed her eyes, and waited for the world to come back. As the ringing in her ears finally subsided she could faintly hear the commotion of the event and she smirked slightly, but grimaced again as her chest throbbed from the punch. She opened her eyes again to see that her vision was slowly returning to her, then tilted her head to the other side. She suddenly saw that there was another pony standing next to her, and she leapt to her hooves in surprise. After a few seconds, she realized who the pony was.
“Oh, you again,” she said to Amethyst as she leaned back against the wall, her voice slightly muffled by the face mask. “I wasn’t aware you were at the event. Did you see all of that? That is what this is all about. Showing that the Elements of Harmony are not perfect. They don’t deserve the love they get and they certainly don’t deserve a statue like that.” Octavia paused as there was another shooting pain in her chest, then smiled. “But what they do deserve is what I did to that pegasus. She wants to destroy the color I put up? I’m more than happy to destroy her color.” Octavia waited, but there was no response from Amethyst. “Are you even list—“ was all she got out as she turned back to look her in the eyes, but stopped when she saw her.
Amethyst’s body was trembling. Her bottom lip was quivering, and tears were welling up in her eyes. Octavia gasped, then took a step forward, only for Amethyst to back off.
“H-how could you do that to her?” she said through choked breaths. “W-why?”
“She deser—”
“I thought y-you were better than Miss Trend,” Amethyst interrupted. “At least she never attacked other ponies. I c-cant believe I ever looked up to you!” Amethyst turned and ran out of the alley, still sobbing.
"Wait!" Octavia yelled, taking off after Amethyst out of pure instinct. She exited the alley and looked around, quickly locating Amethyst as she ran away, and began to follow her.
"There she is!"
Octavia barely had time to look behind her when two sets of hooves grabbed her from either side. She was quickly forced down to the ground, where she remained motionless in shock. Out of the corner of her eye she could make out the golden horseshoes of royal guards. In a panic she began to twist back and forth, but their grip on her forelegs tightened. She looked forward as a pair of hooves stepped in front of her, then followed the legs up to the cold face of Prince Blueblood.
"Flanksy," he said loud enough for everypony in earshot to hear. "For vandalism of property owned by Canterlot, defiance of authority, attacks carried out on other ponies within city limits, and causing a public disturbance, I am placing you under arrest by authority of the crowned prince of Canterlot. Follow me, gentlecolts. Ridley, go grab her bag.”
Blueblood turned away and the guards yanked Octavia up to her hooves, then rose into the air a few feet and followed closely behind Blueblood. Ponies were staring in shock as Octavia writhed around, her back hooves no longer touching the ground.
"Let me go! You can’t do this to me!" she shouted.
Blueblood smirked. "Wow, the oh-so-mysterious Flanksy speaks up. I can do this, and in fact I am doing it. I have put up with you for long enough."
"I didn't do anything wrong, you can't arrest me!"
"Hah!" Blueblood chortled. "Didn't do anything wrong? You have caused more damage to Canterlot than any pony I've seen before. Don't try to play all rebellious and innocent. You know damn well what you've done wrong.”
“She—“
“Be quiet!” Blueblood yelled. “From what the guards told me, she just cleaned the filth that you sprayed on that statue. So you responded by cutting her tail off! Sounds like you were the one who escalated it.” Blueblood turned to one side and muttered under his breath, “Not that I don’t appreciate that…”
"I've done good for Canterlot!" Octavia yelled, desperately rocking back and forth to no avail. "I've made Canterlot—“
She was interrupted when Blueblood spun around. His brow was furrowed and there was an angry fire blazing in his eyes. He stormed forward and got mere inches away from Octavia's masked face.
“Beautiful?! Don't. You. Dare!" he seethed at her. "Don't you dare use that word. Beautiful?! You think you were making Canterlot beautiful? Don't give me that crap. The only point I will ever concede to you is the fact that some ponies in Canterlot did enjoy some of your work. But this? Cutting the tails off of ponies, throwing paint on them, breaking into houses? Tell me, how does that make Canterlot more beautiful!?”
Blueblood stared directly into Octavia’s eyes, waiting for a response. Octavia opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, a vision flashed through her mind. She was back at the park, the night that it had re-opened and ponies had admired all the work she had done in it. She saw the happy faces of ponies, the way the light reflected off the water of the blue and purple fountain, the endless stretch of leafless trees, each with a different color. As the scene played out, she heard two voices: one was of her best friend, and one was hers.
“What's it like knowing that you're changing Canterlot?"
"It… It's like no feeling I've ever had before in my life. It's the kind of fulfillment that nothing has been able to bring me, not even music. I don't want it to end, Vinyl. I never want it to end."
As she came back, Octavia found herself staring into the eyes of Prince Blueblood.
“I-I… I…” she stammered.
Blueblood scoffed. “That’s what I thought. You have nothing. Now keep your mouth shut.”
Blueblood nodded at the two guards, who lifted Octavia back up by her front hooves and flew behind Blueblood as he trotted forward. Octavia stared straight ahead, her mind racing but her body slowly going numb. She glanced back and forth at the guards holding her, then forward at Blueblood.
“I… I just wanted to make Canterlot more beautiful…” she said quietly.
“I said keep your damn mouth shut!!” Blueblood yelled, not bothering to look back at her.
Octavia said nothing. Her body shivered in the hooves of the guards and her back legs hung limply down as her mind and body gave up the last of their feeling, leaving her cold and hollow as the image of Canterlot Castle slowly grew before her.
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End of Chapter 14: Dashed
Special Thanks: Cain VelasquRaz, Chris Worstman, Wardeny Pettis, and Georges St. Propserre