EPILOGUE: Three Months Later
To much applause, Allegro Sonata trotted onto the stage and cleared his throat.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts, as we come to the end of this year’s Canterlot Variety Concert, I thought it only fitting that our final act be one of Canterlot’s lesser known musical acts. She is a name that some of you may be familiar with, and I felt that the ideal way to cap off the night was to give her an opportunity on a big stage the likes of which she has never had before. I am proud and honored to present to you all one of the great unsung musicians in Canterlot, miss Lyra Heartstrings.”
The room was filled with applause as a green unicorn in an elegant black dress trotted on stage. She bowed her head to the crowd, then sat in front of a large lyre. She drew her hooves across the strings and began to play the opening chords of Hoofdel’s Harp Concerto.
As she played, a pony in the far back of the concert hall quietly worked her way to the exit. Just before she got to the door, one of the ushers looked over at her.
“Hey, I know you,” he said. “You’re DJ Pon-3, aren’t you?”
Vinyl nodded. “Yeah, that’s me. Listen, sorry to do this, but I’m in the middle of something right now.”
“Oh, of course,” he said as he opened the door. “I’m surprised to see you here, actually… I wouldn’t think you would be at a show where everypony plays classical music.”
“Yeah, normally I wouldn’t be anywhere near here. But I got a little project.”
“What kind of project are you doing?”
Vinyl smiled. “Oh, it ain’t my project.”
The door pony scratched his head as Vinyl walked out into the Canterlot night. She got halfway across the street, then concentrated as her horn lit up. On a rooftop across from the Anvil Rust Theater, a pony stuck her head out over the edge.
“That’s the signal, isn’t it?” Amethyst Star asked
Octavia looked over the edge at Vinyl, then waved. “Yes, it is. That means the event should be ending in a few minutes, we should get ready.”
The two ponies trotted over to a large folded up sheet and lifted it up, then carried it to the edge of the building. As Amethyst carefully taped one edge down, Octavia looked over at her.
“I do want to thank you for your help in this,” she said. “This didn’t seem like the kind of thing only Vinyl and myself could have done.”
Amethyst blushed. “No problem. Glad to help out any time.”
As Octavia finished taping her side down, she and Amethyst sat and watched the building across the street, waiting for ponies to emerge. Octavia looked at Amethyst to find the unicorn was awkwardly looking away, biting her lip.
“Is everything alright?”
Amethyst jumped a bit. “Oh, yeah, everything’s fine, it’s just… uh…” Amethyst hemmed and hawed for a few seconds before finally looking back at Octavia. “It’s just that I have a little mini-gallery showing coming up next weekend.”
Octavia smiled. “You do?”
“It’s not a huge deal,” Amethyst said. “A bunch of artists in Canterlot are renting out a building for a gallery showing, and they asked me to participate. It’s my first gallery like that, and I’m kinda hoping… well, I was hoping you could show up.”
Octavia enthusiastically nodded. “Of course I will.”
Amethyst looked up, wide-eyed. “R-really?”
“Absolutely,” Octavia said. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. After everything that’s happened, it’s the very least I can do.”
Amethyst couldn’t contain her grin, and the two ponies again watched the theater carefully. Once the Canterlot Variety Concert came to a close, the legions of ponies made their way out of the theater. They were all laughing, enjoying each other’s company, and discussing the show they had just seen. Behind them, surrounded by royal guards, was Princess Celestia herself; she always made it a point to attend the Variety Concert every year.
As ponies filled the streets, Octavia looked over at Amethyst.
“I think now would be best.”
Amethyst nodded, and the two ponies picked up the ends of the sheet and threw it over the edge of the building.
Down below, the ponies looked up as the sheet unfurled, draping the large, colorful mural down on the building across from the theater. Colorful paintings of different musical instruments adorned the entire sheet, drawn in every color of the rainbow. The spaces in between the instruments had been filled in with gold and yellow, making the instruments stand out all the more. The words “Canterlot Variety Performance” were written in large letters near the bottom, with the very bottom right corner of the sheet featuring a small “O” painted in black.
The ponies on the street all looked up in shock, which quickly turned into them talking. Princess Celestia held a hoof up to her mouth to stifle a giggle and looked around at the smiling ponies around her, then tapped her hooves on the ground. Other ponies soon followed suit, and soon most of the ponies who were looking were applauding the massive mural.
Once the applause died down, Octavia and Amethyst made their way down and out of the building. As they entered the crowd, Princess Celestia quickly approached Octavia.
“I had a feeling you might do something like this,” Celestia said with a smile. “A wonderful contribution. I’m just surprised you waited until after the show was over to put it up.”
Octavia smiled back at the princess. “I didn’t want my work to take away from what they were doing. Although to be fair, I assumed more ponies would be on the street once the show ended, and—”
Octavia stopped as she heard a commotion coming from deeper within the crowd. She carefully worked her way forward until she found the source: a pink pony with loud purple hair was ranting in the middle of the crowd as ponies awkwardly exchanged glances.
“Really?! Flanksy is still around?” she screamed. “This is disgusting! Art belongs in galleries, ‘kay? I thought Canterlot was better than this, that’s why I visited!”
Octavia calmly tapped the pony on the shoulder. She turned around, and her eyes narrowed.
“You!” she yelled. “You’re Flanksy, aren’t you?”
Octavia shook her head. “I don’t really go by that name anymore.”
“You know what I mean!” the pony said. “I came to Canterlot to find inspiration for my new line, ‘kay? What I didn’t come for is something like that!”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Octavia said. “How would a mural celebrating the Canterlot Variety Concert hinder your inspiration in any way?”
“Because I know Flanksy!” the pony snapped back. “Flanksy ruined my friend Chic Trend’s show all those months ago, and now you’re trying to ruin the concert!”
Octavia shook her head. “I’m going to have to disagree with that. These were two very different scenes, I hardly—“
“Can it,” the pony said. “I didn’t come to Canterlot to be talked down to by some hooligan, ‘kay?” The pony reached over and tapped another pony on the shoulder, then began to stroll away. “Come on, let’s go.”
The other pony, a cream-colored mare with striped blue hair, didn’t move. She was staring up at the mural with a look of almost childlike wonder. Her eyes were sparkling as she looked over all the instruments, and the corners of her mouth curled up into a smile. She turned to Octavia and opened her mouth, but before she said anything, the pink pony returned and clamped a hoof down on her shoulder hard enough to send a jolt through her whole body.
“Come on, Coco!” she screamed. “I’m not paying you to gawk at crap, we’re leaving now!!”
The pony left again, and Coco took one last look at Octavia. Her smile had disappeared, but Octavia could see the sparkle still dancing in her eyes. Octavia smiled back at her and gave a small nod, which only made the sparkle grow before Coco finally turned around and hurried to catch up with her boss.
Octavia turned and rejoined the rest of the crowd. Several ponies came up to her to talk, while many of them continued to admire the mural.
“Dang. You’re popular, Tavi,” Vinyl Scratch said as she trotted up behind her friend.
Octavia blushed. “Perhaps a bit. I just wanted to contribute is all.”
“Oh don’t be modest, this is awesome,” Vinyl replied as she patted Octavia on the back. “This was totally awesome and you know it.”
“Excuse me, Miss Octavia?”
Octavia and Vinyl looked over as a pony with a styled mane and a pair of spectacles perched on the edge of his snout.
“Oh, hello Sir Sonata,” Octavia said. “Is there something I can do for you?”
“If you don’t mind me asking, how much community service do you have left?”
Octavia looked down at the ground. “Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next month, then I’m done.”
Sonata nodded. “That should work out just fine, then. I had a bit of a proposition for you. In a month and a half I’m hosting a small event at Canterlot Castle. Nothing too formal, I’m just giving some of Canterlot’s musicians a chance to perform in a more informal environment. If you’re not too busy, perhaps you’d like to perform.”
“Really?” Octavia asked. “That would be my first real performance since my arrest…”
“Well I assume you’ve still been keeping up with your cello.”
“Are you kiddin’?” Vinyl said as she suddenly interjected herself into the conversation. “She still plays like every day!”
Octavia blushed. “That is true.”
“Well, if you’d like to, the spot will be open for you.”
Octavia looked over at Vinyl, who responded with an enthusiastic nod. She was about to reply to Sir Sonata, but when she turned back, something else caught her eye: Amethyst Star was standing at the other side of the crowd, where several ponies were crowded around and talking to her. Octavia watched as Amethyst’s face lit up as she talked with each of them, then smiled before turning back to Allegro Sonata.
“I appreciate the offer,” she said, “but I can’t give you a definitive answer just yet. I’ll have to think about it.”
Sonata nodded. “Of course, of course. Just send me a letter when you decide.”
Sonata and Octavia shook hooves and Sonata walked away to join the rest of the crowd. Octavia turned and walked through the crowd, with Vinyl Scratch quickly catching up with her.
“Hey, what’s the deal?” Vinyl said as she nudged Octavia.
“What do you mean?”
“That was your chance to get back into the music world!” Vinyl said. “I woulda figured you’d be ready to jump at that!”
Octavia stopped walking, and Vinyl stopped next to her. Octavia sighed.
“Vinyl… I once said, I once truly believed, that music was the most important thing in my life. And in many ways, that is true. But…” she momentarily trailed off before gathering her thoughts. “But I don’t want to jump back into music simply because the door is open again,” she said. “I don’t want to do anything ‘just because.’ I’m happy where I am right now, Vinyl. That’s what’s most important to me. Should I decide I am ready to get back into music? Then I will most assuredly be contacting Sir Sonata. But I don’t want to make any steps without thinking first. And most importantly, I don’t want to jump back into music yet if it’s going to take away from my happiness. I don’t want to make any jumps just yet. I don’t have to. Because…”
Once again, she looked back. The last ponies were filing out of the Anvil Rust Theater and as they saw the mural, Octavia could see their eyes light up. She just admired the scene for a few seconds before sighing.
When she turned back to Vinyl, the corners of Octavia’s eyes glistened.”
“I’ve found my harmony.”
—————
The End
Eternal gratitude for everything they have done for me:
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if i could send sound through the internet and comments, you wuold hear my applause. i really do like what you have done here. i tip my hat to you.
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Well done Good Sir, well done...
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Wow, that was a beautiful story, I'm glad Octavia is still doing what she loves ^^
Bravo.
Bra-freaking-vo.
I've been with this fic from Chapter 3, and it has been a wild ride.
Congratulations, good sir.
Excellent story, and a perfect ending. Well done!
And there goes the only reason I still use this site.
Good on ya sir, been here since day one.
Her goal was to make Canterlot more beautiful, and she has succeeded in bring out the beauty in both the environment and some ponies.
You have changed my life. I only hope that one day, I can use my writing skills to change the lives of others for the greater good as well as you did.
COLOR GUARD, SALUTE!!!
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It's unfortunate that I'm incapable of putting up a gif to express my feelings towards this story. My wordplay could hardly ever do it justice either, especially when the feelings rarely stay long enough to be written down accurately enough. All I can say is that you and this story made me happy, made these readers happy, made everyone happy.
While I'm not a certified story author to know, nor in any position, to tell you this, and I'm pretty sure you already know this, but I hope you're happy and satisfied yourself when you've finished this, and I like for you to remember this story's theme, and continue doing what you love for the rest of your days. There are few things greater than a person being happy, and share what made that person happy.
After all, I intend to answer by looking at this story when the question is asked. "Am happy with what I do?"
Thanks, you talented bastard.
And the Moral of the story:
Terrorize people and harass them, you'll get a light sentence.
Apologize to them in the most backhanded and insulting way, get actual sincere apologies from them and the princess because they apparently were 100% at fault for you attacking them.
The only people who will hate your work will just be 'Haters' and so they can easily be ignored because they are just assholes, no one will realistically hate your stuff because they all love it!
End up getting 3X more stuff and work then you did and making more money as a result by revealing self despite being known for assaulting someone with scissors for trying to clean up the 'art'.
It's fine if you find your own harmony, even if it's forced over others.
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Brav-fucking-O, that was amazing, sir. Simply amazing.
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There are not enough like buttons on the internet...
Wonderful story good sir. Wonderful ending too.
Great job. 
This is one wonderful, amazing story, thank you so much for sharing it with all of us. It will always be one of my favorites.
I can't believe this is finally over. This has been such an amazing an inspiring fic. Octavia's journey sure had it's ups and downs and not all of it was pretty. But seeing her having grown and be better at the end makes it all worth it.
One of my favorite aspects through this whole fic was that I never truly felt there was a villain. Yes, there were many different views and many characters made mistakes. Some learned from their mistakes others didn't. The fact that there's no true resolution with Blueblood I found to be very fitting. His pride and ideals will never allow him to admit when he's wrong or made a mistake or is being unfair. That's just who he is, but that doesn't have to be Octavia's problem.
The Epilogue was a perfect final scene. Now wither Octavia will return to music or not...I'm really as unsure about that as she is. Wither she does or not, I am glad it's not something she just abandoned and that it'll always have a place in her life, be it professionally or privately.
From start to finish this was a joy to read, a fic I'll be sure to read again in the future.
Good cap on the story, though oh my god Octavia, accept Sonata's invitation. If your music is still so important that you practice every single day, it's important enough to not let it fall away in favor of unpaid street art. Eventually Vinyl is going to wonder why she is paying the apartment rent all by herself.
4767002 I'm choosing to believe that some of the final apologies were made in favor of letting bygones be bygones.
4767002
Sheesh, she was truly sorry for what she did, she apologized, she admitted to taking things too far and she seems to have made a little headway with Twilight and the rest. The only one still holding a grudge here seems to be you. =/
You sir/ma'am/A.I. have achieved the level of SWAG
LONG LIVE ART!
4767171 It is perfectly fair that some folks feel that all of that was written unrealistically. Just because you seem to disagree is no call for you to act like there's something wrong with them.
Well it ended.
Rather abruptly. The main portion of the story was okay, but this ending could have been better. The only thing that could have made it any cheesier was if Octavia had punched Blueblood and everyone applauded.
4767171 If I stabbed you and said sorry, that makes it okay? This was more feel good than it had any reason to be.
4767171
Her "Apology" was very backhanded, it was less of an apology and more "I don't really care about you anymore, and I'm moving on for that"
Considering Twilight's apology to her and Celestia's, after she had already destroyed things, terrorized people in their homes, and vandalized, and she did it because she felt entitled to it because of a ruined social event...
It was a very feel good ending.
The cameos by Suri and Coco in the epilogue were fantastic. When I started reading, I couldn't help but think that if this hadn't started so long ago, perhaps Chic Trend and Amethyst could have been Suri Polomare and Coco Pommel instead. Probably not, because it follows canon so closely, but still...
This is the most beautiful pice of fiction I have ever read. This story filled my heart with emotions and desires to go in directions I didn't even think I would go.
Thankyou my friend.
Btw, this story reminded me sooo much of this song:
4767333 That was probably the bit that made me hate the ending the most. It just cements those who hate the art as "haters and assholes" and makes the supporters the good guys.
Good fic
4767332
I don't quite understand you.
You've left negative comments on nearly every chapter of the story... and yet, here you are, having read the whole thing. If it was so unworthy, why read it to completion? Why waste your time with a story you seem to think is bad? I'm uncertain as to the psychology behind this, and why you'd take the time to leave a negative comment on every chapter. Why bother? I'm genuinely curious as to your motivation. I'm not saying your wrong, though I disagree with your assessment of the story, but I'm just wondering why you're doing what you're doing?
4767421 Is there a rule against leaving negative comments?
4767421
I actually upvoted the story as I enjoyed it, it was a very well written story, I just have a single issue wonk with that criminal issue and a bit of the ending.
And it's certainly not every chapter, Just..like three to five, generally during the assault on Rainbow Dash, and the ending since it's got some issues with it.
...I really don't know if I like this ending. Back in the beginning of the story, I did not like Octavia, even before she started to cross lines. I wanted more nuances, more opposition. I even said back then that the narration was always in her favor.
It's kind of the same thing all over again. Why is it that the narration pushes so much to make her the greatest artist ever? That everypony BUT the jerks love? Seriously, is there not one good guy in Canterlot that does not like her art? Or is it just stuck-ups, rude jerkasses, cheats? Really, for Suri to dislike it and Coco to like it is just pushing it, no? No, of course not, she just assaults ponies with scissors. At a public event. Because they touched her art. Well, I think I can guess why no one dares to say they dislike it except the most unpleasant ponies, right?
I think that quote sums up why I'm ticked at Octavia. As she says, ponies that like it are all happy. Ponies that dislike it have it shoved in their backyards. She STILL paints graffitis around. Would it have been so hard for her art to have been commissionned by someone?
Still, I cannot, in good conscience, say this is a poor story. It is compelling, it is well-written, well-edited, it creates reactions and lots of lots of debates in the comment section, so that's a win for you, author. *tilts hat*
If the first order of business for an artist is to get others to think about things, then Flanksy (and Octavia) have taken care of business in a most remarkable fashion.
Bravo.
4767470 Probably why the scene with Blueblood made me cringe. He had a legitimate reason to stand up against her and of course he is the asshole. Blueblood went from a character and a obstacle to a plot device.
4767438
No, not at all, he's more than entitled to have an opinion on the story, negative or positive. I'd never expect EVERYBODY to like a story. I'm just trying to pin down the reason why he seems to leave mostly negative comments, which from my perspective seems to indicate he didn't like the story. I'm wrong, he likes the story, just had problems with particular parts and that's where he left the majority of his comments.
4767449
Fair enough. I just assumed that, since the majority of your comments seem to be negative, you disliked the story. My mistake. However, there are people on the site that will hate a story, yet comment on every chapter, which puzzles me, so I finally decided to ask.
A glorious, beautiful end to... something I would happily call a masterpiece. And I don't say that lightly. You are on a very short list of authors I will gleefully recommend to anyone interested in reading fanfic.
Thank you, both as a reader and as a pre-reader for Equestria Daily. Bravo.
4767522 Honestly I would think that an author of any story would more receptive to negative comments rather than the "OMG best stry evr I cried" comments that stories like these get.
Sweet ending dude.
Lemme know if you ever do a sequel. This was freaking awesome. I like that Octavia isn't just easily forgiven, but instead that both sides are working to try to find some middle ground. Blueblood was an interesting change. We didn't get much insight into his motivation at the end, but still, looks interesting as well. You win a moustache!
4767538
It's an interesting trade-off, really... seeing people really enjoy the story makes me happy, of course, but getting constructive criticism is extremely helpful to me as well. So really, both are good. The only stuff i don't like is when people say "WORST STORY EVER U SUCK" without going into detail about it. (Granted, I'm having issues thinking of a time during this story where someone just outright did that... most comments, even negative ones, have still gone into what they didn't like.)
And on that note, while you didn't like the ending, I do appreciate you explaining why, it gives me things to think about as I continue writing.
First let me say that this is a very well written story and the author deserves a lot of credit for going the distance.
That said I am rather disappointed that this story is very 'having her cake and eating it too' for Octavia. Mid way through the story is when I first started to get worried that literally everything went her way and every "set back" was really just a reinforcement of her righteousness. The Elements of Harmony randomly deciding that all of her art was disharmonious (or was this all in her head and Discord erased it?) was my first major red flag. This was followed soon after by the now redacted Zero Tolerance chapter 15.
I kept up with the story as it is well written and entertaining enough and I was genuinely curious if Octavia would ever lose her plot invincibility. As it turns out she hasn't and I burst out laughing when the author set up a sequel with yet another crazy pony flipping out at the end for no good reason.
I hate to be "that guy", but I got to agree with 4767002 here. Don't get me wrong at all. The story is nice, it has some sweet and touching moments, and I can see what the intentions were.
While I'm happy Octavia does "find her harmony", I still think the biggest issue with this story overall has to be how she acts in the last few chapters. It seemed shortly before apologizing that she finally realized she took things too far and feels horrible about it. Instead, Octavia doesn't seem sorry at all for what she's done. She doesn't seem concerned about what she put the Mane 6 through, or how she really scarred or hurt them emotionally and physically. She acts so nonchalant about her apology and comes off more as somepony who says, "Sorry, but I don't like you guys. No hard feelings about what happened, right?" There is no emotion to her, no sign of any kind of remorse from her overall. There is nothing that ultimately comes back to bite her in the flank, not even guilt.
And it kind of bothers me too that Octavia is rewarded for everything she just did here, despite injuring several heroes and destroying their homes. I mean, she gets apologies from the Mane 6 and Celestia, even though she does NOT know the full events of what happened during the GGG. All of Canterlot welcomes her art. She's let off the hook big time. I mean, this is the luckiest mare ever to walk Equestria. There is no cost to what she's done, no ruined reputation, no feeling like an outcast, nopony objecting to the other pieces of graffiti that was NOT art like on the Celestia statue, no real thought or thinking that maybe what she did to the Mane 6 was really wrong and how she hurt them far worse than what they did at the GGG.
I'm not saying everypony across Equestria should hate her, especially Canterlot, but it seems nothing ultimately comes back to hit Octavia at the end for all of this. Maybe, in my opinion, if Octavia was seen as a disgrace to half of Canterlot and her career was pretty much done for, that could've worked. Since it seems she doesn't want to do her music career anymore and continue her art, she could've instead decided to finally leave behind the life she had before Flanksy and become a freelance painter across Equestria. She'd loss a lot for her actions, but she'd gain some new form of life too. That would've been an interesting way to end it, not give her everything and make her seem like what she did, particularly to the Mane 6, was right.
If it sounds like I'm bitching, fair enough then. I'm just disappointed about how Octavia acted in the last few chapters. I'm probably in the minority here though.
I only got into this cause im fond of Banksy and I was curious about where this would go
I have to say, im not disappointed. in fact, it was very pleasant.
A brilliant ending to a wonderful story of Art, choices, and finding your own harmony with the world...Well done.
Glad to see this finish in such a high note, and it always great to see a story you have been following for a long time come to fruition.
Great story.
It's been a long road, and despite it's ups, downs, and that part in the middle that caused commenters to whine and act like petulant children over a trivial matter, this story finally has it's closure.
Clap Clap
I really liked this story, but I do have to say some things.
You repeat things. A LOT. It's understandable if you can't come up with enough to make a dialogue feel the right size, but repetition is not a substitute for content.
Blueblood's face-heel-turn was just bad. Through the entire thing, all he was was "HATE HATE HATE HATE EXECUTION" (which is also evidence of poor character development, villains need that too) and all of a sudden, with an argument that had been barely altered from when it got stuffed in his face a dozen times before, he's not even allowed to be bitter about it.
Some stuff was poorly written/worded; Ex. you didn't really convince me that Octavia had a reason to turn down Mr. Sonata.
Some things were just unnecessary or unexplained, like Ms. Coco's-dominatrix-who's-name-I've-forgotten's appearance here. She shows up, hates, and leaves. Octavia barely reacts while she's there, and then everyone acts like it didn't happen. You can only expect your readers to connect so many dots on their own. A word or two explaining the significance of such scenes would be good.
I'm not trying to hate, just pointing out some things about your work that didn't sit right. If good artists are never given criticism, they can never become great artists.
Little extra quotation mark there.
Thank you,
so much
for creating this story, and thank the editors and contributors for me too.
This is so far the absolute best Octavia story I've come across, and while I'm sad to see it finished I'm happy that it wasn't abandoned like so many other good stories.
I loved the Exit Through the Gift Shop take on things, and while I wasn't so happy to see Octavia painting during the day, in public, I am very happy that this idea happened at all.
Once again, thank you for writing this story and thank you to all the contributors and editors as well!
A wonderful Ending! Good Job!