Coda
The train was about to depart. Octavia sat in her seat moodily, feeling impossibly low. What could she do now?
It was almost worse that the Elements had gone to all that trouble, even damaged Lyra’s and Trixie’s reputations, just to give Octavia a reason for failing so that Greengrass wouldn't blacklist her. Lyra had implied that she didn’t deserve that kind of consideration. She was probably right.
“What happened to me?” she muttered. “I was happier when I was just dreaming. This wasn’t what my career was supposed to be.” She knew that if she tried playing her cello now, she would only produce noise. Her heart just wasn’t in it.
She heard hoofsteps approaching – Trixie’s. She had the most arrogant gait of any pony Octavia had met. “Get out, Lulamoon,” hissed the cellist.
“So, Octavia!” Trixie sounded very pleased with herself. “We just did you a pretty big favor, so now you owe us one.”
Octavia said nothing.
“From now on, when you hear about Greengrass or anypony else trying to ‘obtain’ one of the Elements? You write me. Got it?”
“Or what?” the cellist hissed.
“Or I let it slip that the reason I had Lyra arrested was not out of stupid jealousy, but because I figured out your plan. No, because you told me your plan. Greengrass won’t like that too much, will he?”
“…go to Tartarus.”
“Hey, the Elements are my friends. I'm going to protect them, whether you like it or not.” Trixie began to walk off. “Have a nice ride back. Say hi to the Duke for me!”
Octavia groaned and sank deeper into her seat. This was the worst day of her life.
A few days later...
Lyra looked at the letter on Trixie’s desk. Only the second page was visible, but it was still quite interesting.
…be advised that some of the nobles are attempting to obtain the services of the Elements of Harmony, and may be using proxies to do so. Philharmonica will probably not be the last one. I will, of course, do all I can to prevent them from succeeding.
Regarding Philharmonica, I have discussed the matter with Lyra, and neither of us wish to see her destroyed over this affair. While she did betray her friend, she was pressured into it, and Lyra still feels a debt to her from her time at the Academy. I understand that one could argue that she be harshly punished because, were she successful in tricking one of the Elements to work for one of the nobles, that Element could be used for political gain instead of the safety of all Equestria. Nonetheless, we both hope that you temper justice with mercy and deal with her lightly.
On a more personal note, I wanted to thank you for insisting that I learn about friendship, even when I was reluctant. If I had still been my old self, I could never have protected Lyra from Greengrass. I acknowledge that I am still learning, but your instruction has already been invaluable for myself and my friends.
Your faithful student,
Trixie Lulamoon
PS: Incidentally, if you do need a lyre player for any reason, I cannot recommend Lyra highly enough.
“Hey. Don’t you know it’s rude to read somepony else’s mail?”
Lyra turned to see Trixie and grinned. “Just making sure you put in all the good parts.”
“You mean, making sure I didn’t take credit for everything? Nah, it’s all in there. Including…” she sighed. “The part where I almost drove you away.”
“Hey, I forgave you.”
“Still.” Trixie nodded. “I’m trying to be better. I really am. But I still screw up sometimes. I’m sorry—“
“I already told you, it's okay.” Lyra laughed. “Trixie, I know you’re not perfect. Well, that’s probably an understatement. But I also know that you always come through when it really matters. Against Corona… against Twilight… at the performance last month… even now. Sure, sometimes you don’t say the right thing, but you’re still a great friend.”
Trixie blushed. “Thanks, Lyra. That means a lot to me.” She put the letter into her hat and cast the spell to teleport it to Luna. “It really does.”
Lyra beamed.
“And, I guess I should be happy that I scored my first political victory.”
“Over a cellist with absolutely no political training.”
“Gotta start somewhere!”
The two laughed.
Lyra plucked her lyre. “Come on… let’s get to the park. I’ve got some new music that I think the foals will love.”
“I’ll get the Doos,” said Trixie. “And the other Elements.”
“Better hurry. You don’t want to miss the opening. It’s based on our adventures the past week.”
"I'll be there for the opening, but I won't be able to stay for long. There's still twenty homes that haven't filled out their census forms." Trixie looked at the paperwork in her saddlebags. "And Pokey can't help me with this for some legal reason."
"Well, I suppose now you've learned not to sign your friends up for random bureaucratic tasks."
"I certainly have," sighed Trixie.
Lyra smiled kindly. "If you're still working when I'm done, I'll help you."
Trixie brightened.
"Now, come on, let's get going. I've got to regale the crowd with the music of our adventures!"
“…you did omit the part where I got drunk and almost passed out on the judge’s chair, right?”
Lyra giggled and began to leave.
“Right? Lyra? Hello?”
Lyra laughed and galloped out of the room.
“Hey, come back here!” Trixie, smiling radiantly, chased her out into the bright new day.
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Well, there will be others. And it won't just be Lyra they're targetting. Hmmmm. Thundering Posey would like to get his hooks on one, wouldn't he? Doesn't matter that his daughter Fluttering Posey
is probably hiding away because she got jammed up by the Night Court, Daddy still wants to play the Game.
793028: I wouldn't call them stupid. Greengrass lost basically nothing by attempting this plan (Octavia lost a lot, but that's not his problem), and if Trixie hadn't been so suspicious, he stood a decent shot of at least getting Lyra to Canterlot and being able to try to bribe or bamboozle her into swearing that she'd help him (and he's good with words, so he figures he could probably trick her into making such a swear). The plan failed, but I wouldn't call Greengrass dumb because of that.
Now, the point could well be raised that having Lyra wouldn't really do much for Greengrass since the Elements don't work like that, but having her would give him lots of leverage with other nobles who didn't know that the Elements don't work like that, so it would probably still work out well for him.
Is this the last chapter? I like to download completed stories, so having a story which is still marked as incomplete tends to bug me. Or is there an epilogue coming to show what happens to Octavia or something like that? Because as far as the Lunaverse 6 go, the story is basically completed at this point.
793089: Whoops, forgot to change the status to 'complete.' Fixed now. Yeah, it's done. :-)
I don't think that Luna "controls" the Elements, and I certainly don't think it's something that Trixie would see her as doing. Yes, in a political sense, Luna's holding the cards, and likes to make that impression, but at the very least in a private correspondance I don't think that Trixie would use the phrase "your control."
Too bad Trixie didn't get hammered. Lulamoon is fun. But probably couldn't of held the ruse together.
Great ending, there. Good on Trixie, too! I like seeing her and the others develop,
793120: Control is probably the wrong word; I edited and fixed it. What I was going for was along the lines of "Luna can contact them and say, 'hey, there's a demon invasion to the south, so please get on that and use your elemental powers to save the day,' and they'd do it." So I changed it to make it more clear.
Now that was a great story! Your Trixie is much more likeable than mine
well done!
793187: Thank you! I like Trixie best when she's likeable even though she's kind of a jerk. I've read a few stories where she's just all jerk (or, worse, Always Chaotic Evil and 'bwa ha ha-ing' as she summons a horde of locusts to eat Ponyville), and that's no fun. Trixie can be mean, crude, manipulative, and insensitive... but she's also got a real heart, and I think that's important to show.
I really do feel bad for Octavia here, but Lyra's right - she should have come clean to Lyra, and they could have come up with a plan together. I love the interactions between Lyra and Trixie in this story - it shows just how hard Trixie is trying to be a good friend, even though she's not very good at it, and the extent to which Lyra will stand by her friends (eventually - the performance was a huge temptation for her) even when they're being jerks. Great story, A++, would read again!
793045
This is why I loathe individuals like Greengrass. They reap all of the rewards and yet somehow manage to take none of the risks.
795384: Glad you enjoyed it! The Lyra/Trixie bits were fun to write, for precisely that reason. Trixie tries so hard. She's just... not very good at being a friend, sometimes.
Yes, while I'm sympathetic to Octavia, Lyra is absolutely right. If Octavia had just been open about the whole thing, it's likely that they could have come up with a similar solution to the one they did, and Lyra wouldn't have been at risk to falling into the trap. But Octavia put her career first, and while understandable, it wasn't the right move.
Ah, well. Now she has to live with what she's done. I foresee a few restless nights in the future for our favorite pony cellist.
795444: It will be interesting to see what happens if/when he runs out of minions and has to take direct action.
This was really quite nicely written. Did expect a bit more redemption for Octavia at the end with maybe her volunteering to do what Trixie is forcing her to do at the end. Still an excellent and highly enjoyable story. Added to my favorites and archived onto my Kindle.
797235: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
Octavia is a bit too proud to redeem herself right away, and she's also got a bit of self-loathing (and Trixie-loathing) going on too. But in a future story, maybe Octavia can find her way back to the right side. That seems quite probable. :-)
Bravissimo!
Loved the way Lyra proves her Element. It truly takes a good soul to stand by an old friend through something like that. Also enjoyed the scheme to get Lyra off the hook without ruining Octavia. Trixie getting drunk for realies was great fun. Lastly, she really is showing some political savvy by recruiting Octavia.
I'm a little hesitant about using the L6 for all the play actors in the mock trial though. If Octavia was really sent on a recruit an Element mission, I'd expect her to have been briefed on the others well enough to recognize them. I'm willing to write it off for plot humor plus Octavia being stressed, but it's still stretching my suspension of disbelief a bit, not as bad as the whole "how many ponies do you think know my last name part" from earlier did though.
Oh, and I'll agree with Fizzy, you did a great job capturing Trixie's better half. Almost made me ashamed I didn't show more of that in my story. Then again part of the point of that fic was that all the major players were being some variety of jerk.
I'll close off by supporting setting up for it, but not actually redeeming Octavia. Gives us all the chance to maybe play with this morally compromised version a bit more.
Great episode.
Excellent story. Not the most exciting or funniest Lunaverse fic, but by far one of the strongest in storytelling and characterization.
This is honestly my favorite Lunaverse fic after Family Matters.
826701,821960 : Thanks! :-)
An excellent addition to the Lunaverse. It also goes to show you that politics can be used for good and evil, too bad we can't see anything like this on the main show, being a wielder of one of the elements certainly has its perks.
These Lunaverse stories are hands down my favorites. They are all top quality stories with great characters and exciting plots.dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia_plot.png
974776
You can say that again! I like seeing the characters evolve and grow. Not to mention having their back stories told is nice too.
All in all, this story (and the Lunaverse) get
out of 
yay!
Phenomenally good.
Excellent. Heartbreaking in the Lunaverse's tradition, but excellently so.
1341167: Glad you liked it!
If you're interested, there's a sequel that I wrote, called Symphony for Moon and Sun. If you liked this story, I think you'll like that one too. :-)
1341209
Yeah, I'm going down the Lunaverse list for the ones I missed. Up until a few days ago I was only reading RDD's ones and was rather surprised the rest of it ballooned so large :)
Not bad. The music parts worked very well for me, and I appreciate Trixie's actions at the end here to at least partially gain Octavia as her own minion.
I think I enjoy these stories which expand on the L6's relationships with each other the most. Kind of like in the M6 1st season where many of the stories showed where the quirks of each individual are brought into conflict and expand more upon the characters' friendship. This story certainly accomplished that in bringing Trixie's paranoia into conflict with Lyra's loyalty--for another friend, in this case--and the resolution really shows a growth in their relationship. I've been going through the Lunaverse in episode order so far, but this has been one of the best of that type of storytelling I've seen so far.
1933710: Thank you! Glad you like it!
Love the story. Hate the nobility, though. Would anyone object if I weeded a few out?
I need some equine targets for shooting practice...
There's virtually nothing to hate here. Sometimes, our darkest opponents are our very closest friends, when they lack the fortitude to stand up for what they believe in.
You didn't even revert to status quo, which is even nicer - I've already read the webisode, and am interested in seeing where that goes. A redemption worth having is one that's worth struggling for.
I enjoyed this story. It had a very good story and characterization, and just flowed really well. While not the most exciting, it all came together very well for a story involving Trixie's paranoia, Lyra's loyalty, and Octavia's manipulations and motivations. It gave an insight into this world, and into some of the character's relationships to one another.
Again, same as the first and second chapter. Comment follows the second. Wow do I sound robotic after this
4616178
What do you mean by that?
4620126 You have a gun in your avatar. It shouldn't be too hard to pick up what was inferred from there.
4884327
Oh.
This was a great intro to Octavia as a character. And I love the story threads that follow her own little stories. She really makes a great Ascended Side character.
Oh, Mr. Bourbon! You drive Trixie to do the silliest things!
Why do I feel like if this WERE a series, Octavia woul become an ensemble darkhorse? I mean, she alreay was with me, an I had deep love of her for a while. What I love is that, you idn't go for her being just a mustache twirling "hahahah" type of henchman, but a gal with feelings and emotions. You sowe that she is reluctant, but is oing this for her own goals. I fin myself wanting to help her, but not at the cost of others. She becomes more...human in this light. This also makes me look at the nobels with a shake of my hea, wanting them to get a clue about what HEROES are. Heroes wouln't not help you because of political gain, they o it because it is the right thing to do. I eel this urge to slap them upside the hea or it.
I am a little jelous of you here. I keep saying that the best way to incorperate music into the written form is to describe it, an you do it beautiully here. You make these things seem alive, like a story, even when I don't even know 1/3 of the words. I feel like I want to learn them.
Trixie and Lyra, already my two favorite Lunaverse ponies, are eveloped well in this. Exploring more of this relationship.Trixie, like Twilight, is not perect, and we on't want it to be. But she that she learns and grows. I have to agree that she wouldn't have one this in the past, bt she will now. This was alos a goo way to show how Trixie an LYra act to one another, Lyra may be close to Trixie, but she will only go so far.
I usually put up the first chapter of my lve read for others, so here you go.
Hmm. I think I would have preferred the lesson being that Trixie should learn to trust her friends judgement and they can make their own decisions. Shouldn't Trixie be the one to learn to trust her friends, not Lyra? I don't really like the Trixie's insane paranoid ramblings were proven to be right.
7337088
But if Trixie respected Lyra's judgement. Lyra would have been screwed like a two bit whorse in a biker bar.
As for paranoid ramblings. They weren't. You see a bit of it in "Carrot Over the Line" where Fluttershy's father (part of the Night Court by relation to his wife) threatened to utterly ruin Rainbow Dash's life and the life of her mother if she didn't do what he wanted her to do. And "File I for Impossible" that Viscount Blueblood had sent in a spy to gather dirt over Trixie. And in "Where There Is Smoke" had sent in a proxy to blackmail Trixie if she didn't do what he wanted (and she was able to get past that without giving in).
And all of those were before this episode in the fic.
So no. It wasn't paranoid. It was a matter of fact. That the Night Court was filled with D-bags. Hell even in S2 (Even if GrassandClouds2 ignores the fact that everything in the Vault is text book cases of economic abuse, brainwashing, and other illegal acts (as further compounded by the fact that the Pega-B***h (forgot her name) is keen to prevent Luna or other government people look to deeply into the Vault)) we have a Night Court member who isolates, brainwashes, and controls every iota of her collections lives.
So yeah. This moral of the story was spot on.
11498894
Hah, it’s been so long since I read this story, I didn’t remember this comment of mine, or the whole context for it. I was kind of shocked looking at this again. Nowadays I’m waaaaay less likely to drop an F-bomb on my reviews. Although it doesn’t seem like anyone below disagreed with me.
hah! that was quite good :)