//------------------------------// // Friend Like Me // Story: In Somepony's Shadow // by Whammy //------------------------------// “And if you turn to the right, you’ll see the door to your brand new quarters Miss Trixie,” Star Breaker said, flying ahead just enough to turn around and motion towards a wooden door with what appeared to be Trixie’s cutie mark embossed on it , “Thank you for choosing Star Breaker Tours for your Canterlot Castle tourist needs.” With the excitement at her new-founded status as an apprentice to a princess, Trixie was in a mood that was giddy enough that even such a simple joke as that got a giggle out of her. “And a lovely tour it was Star Breaker. I will be sure to give a glowing review to your manager.” The small grin on Star Breaker’s face signaled that the response was well received as the bat pony Night Guard landed on the ground and gently took a hold of the doorknob.   “Though Trixie’s just fine if you don’t mind. Can I ask why my cutie mark’s on the door already?” Trixie added, a little surprised it had been added to the door so quickly since she had said yes to the offer not even half an hour ago. Star Breaker gave a slight grin. “The Princess felt preeeettttty confident you were gonna say yes to her offer so she might have already prepped up the room a little. It’s a little fancy for my tastes, but I’ll let you be the judge,” she said, gently pulling the door open for Trixie to enter. “Well I normally live in a wagon most of the year so I’m pretty sure anything is gonna feel fancy after….that” she said, pausing a bit as her hooves hit what felt like carpet.   She looked down at the dark, swirling pattern that reminded her of some artist pony’s painting of the night sky. Van Goh, she believed. Trixie’s eyes quickly looked up from the carpet and slowly moved their away across the room, which from her perspective might as well have been an elite suite at one of Canterlot’s best hotels.   To the right of her was a large, round bed flanked with a dresser on side and a night stand on the other. The sheets were a mixture of blues and purples, the cover decorated with stars so as to suggest a night scene. If she had to guess, probably not quite as large as a princess size bed, but definitely bigger than the ‘technically qualified to be a twin’ bed in her wagon. Even from the doorway she could take a guess at how soft it was – though again anything was probably softer than the almost board-like bed she had now - and she felt a strong urge to simply jump on it right then and there to test it. She was less enthused to try out, however, what looked to be a small study area, with bookshelves and a desk already decked out with books, inkwells and patching quills, and parchment paper. Of course she realized that was also part of being an apprentice, but she had wanted to let the thoughts of some slight pampering from living in the castle be front and center a little longer. At least the fact that the room also had a small couch and fireplace on the back wall, flanked by two glass-stained windows with curtains that matched the rest of the room’s night theme, meant she could meant she could be nice and cozy when she was reading. “Yeah, pretty sweet huh? Hey, if you ever have a nightmare or something and need a guard to keep you company make sure to ask for me. Wouldn’t mind getting some z’s on that bed,” Star Breaker said, gently giving Trixie a slight ribbing. “Wait, but I thought bat ponies hung from rafters?” Trixie replied, a slight arch of confusion appearing on her eyebrow. “Er, well, some of the more traditional bat ponies like to do that, particularly ones from the colonies. But I was kind of born and raised in Cloudsdale so I would much rather have a soft, billowing cloud than a wooden rafter. And since I got chewed out about the threat of mold last time I tried to sneak in a cloud bed for my barracks, that type of bed is probably the best I’m gonna get.” “Oh, uhm….I guess you can go jump on it while I check the rest of the place then?” Trixie said, her face flushed slightly in embarrassment for the comment she had just made. Star Breaker, however, simply shook her head. “Nah, sorry, gotta get back on patrol. But enjoy the room. Bathrooms through that door over there,” she said as she pointed to a door a little ways down the wall from the bed that Trixie had missed in her awe at the rest of the room, “And I think they even threw in some bathrobes and slippers if you want. Have a good night Trixie.” With that Star Breaker left, shutting the door behind her as Trixie simply stood still soaking it all in. And then everything that had been bottling up broke out as she lunged towards the bed, quickly rolling in it like she was a little filly as she splayed her fore hooves out in a little cheer. “I’M PRINCESS LUNA’S APPRENTICE!” she said, not quite tiring of getting to hear that phrase, repeating it several more times as she snuggled into the bed, eyes closed as she thought about what had just occurred to her. She could just imagine it now, hanging out with the princess, learning new magic far beyond what she could have gotten at the Academy. Guards would respect her instead of seeing her as a slight nuisance because of her crowds. Oh, the crowds! The crowds would love her when she was done! “The Great and Powerful Trixie, Apprentice to the Princess Tour!” Eh, she’d work on the title later. Then again, who would care about the title when they could see a princess’s apprentice! “Sounds like someone’s really excited about her new job.”   Trixie stopped wriggling about, eyes opening and darting around before noticing the star-struck pattern of her bedding had been replaced with grey coloring and a pair of yellow eyes with red irises. “Hi,” the bed said. “AAAAAAGH!?” Trixie said, quickly rolling off the bed and onto the floor, stumbling a bit in the process so that as she stood it was more from a position of splattering on the ground than an awesome dodge roll. Her horn was sparking with fireworks, ready to attack her new bed. “Oh come on now, put away the sparklers. The bed’s fire retardant anyway….though guess someone with enough ingenuity could get around that” the bed replied, sounding as if it was seriously considering the possibility of setting itself on fire. The sparkles diminished as Trixie’s neck craned upward, the grey colors of the bed pulling outwards and forming into a long, serpentine like body but instead of a serpent was instead made up of a practical zoo’s worth of animal parts. In seconds her excitement and adrenaline from the scare had quickly turned into hesitation and fear as she quickly realized who this intruder to her new room was. “Y-you’re Discord, aren’t you.” The amalgamation of creatures began to clap in that slow, deliberativeness that Trixie was quite familiar with as a sign of sarcasm. “Oh you are a bright one, aren’t you ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie’. Or is it “Princess Luna Apprentice Trixie now. Oooh, oooh, maybe you should try “The Great and Powerful Apprentice to the Princess, Trixie! No, no, way too long, don’t you think?” “What are you doing in my room!?” Trixie snapped, causing Discord to simply respond with a laugh. “I knew I was going to like you the moment you walked in. You even got the same temper as Twilight Sparkle.” Really, did he have to compare her to Twilight? Although at least in this case she’d take it as a compliment, agreeing with Twilight that a bit of a temper was the appropriate way to deal with this creature before her. Before she say anything though Discord disappeared, his absence short lived however as he quickly reappeared beside her and drew her towards him with a one-armed hug. “But the thing is, I think I might like you even more than Twilight Sparkle.” Trixie simply levitated his arm off of her, continuing to glare at him defensively as she backed away from. “Oh I know what you’re thinking ‘Geeh Discord, why would you like me more than a pony as wonderful and famous as Princess Twilight?” he said, a highness to his pitch that made her think he was giving a mocking impression of her. “I wasn’t thinking that at all” she deadpanned. “Well I’ll tell you Trixie, it’s because we’re kindred spirits you and I” he said, gently tapping her on the muzzle, which she quickly rubbed as if she was trying to get rid of some nasty bug. “And what makes you think that? It’s not like I’ve gone and….” Discord gave a grin. “And tried to take over Equestria or humiliate Twilight and her friends? Well, I guess we do have that in common, but I was thinking something a little…deeper.” Discord snapped his fingers, and suddenly a chalkboard appeared and Discord was dressed in university robes. Trixie could already feel a headache coming on as she watched him draw stick figures that she guessed was her and Twilight. “You see, Trixie, Twilight might be a princess and all, but she’s a real stick in the mud, all logical and stuff,” he said, motioning at the Twilight stick figure that quickly began to move around, summoning book after book before suddenly her entire half of the board was filled with books. “You, on the other hand, are creative, free, driven by emotion and your feelings. After all, illusions are all about changing the reality you don’t like in favor of one you like, no?” he said, the Trixie figure standing tall and proud as it shot off chalk fireworks all around the board. Trixie even gave a slight giggle as one of them set a book on fire, causing the Twilight chalk figure to start panicking a little to put it out. She quickly regained her composure, however, remembering she was still dealing with Discord of all creatures. “Well, it’s not exactly like that. I mean, there’s still magic theory, spell theorems, formulas you gotta learn…” “But at the heart of it, when you’re on that stage, you’re minds not filled with magical theorems and spell components, but the desire to show the world your amazing abilities, to have the sky itself light up with your name,” he said, having once again placed an arm around her as he waved his other hand in front of them. Trixie had to admit, she was a little enthralled as her name was written in fireworks as he spoke. “I…guess that’s one way to put it,” she said, feeling a little bit proud of herself, “I mean, books and stuff weren’t really my thing at the Academy, but I’ve always had a knack for ‘feeling’ my magic. I mean, that sounds weird, but it really is about the best way to put it.” “And that’s exactly why I wanted to offer you some help in your upcoming studies! Because the world needs more creative ponies like you to show them what magic can really do and not some stuffy old princess locked who literally lives in a library tree.” “Wait, what exactly do you mean ‘help’ me with my studies?” she said, the slight relaxation she had slipped into quickly replaced with suspicion of the draconequus’s intentions. After all, not that long ago he was one of Equestria’s greatest enemies, so it felt a little weird to be getting so chummy with him. “Well, the thing is, Luna’s taking you on as an apprentice has sort of inspired me to seek out my own little apprentice to pass on my knowledge too.” Suddenly the room darkened, a spotlight shining on Discord as violin music began to play from somewhere. “You see, I’m the only draconequus in Equestria. No others of my own to share in chaotic revelry, no heir to pass on my talents,” he said, his clawed hand raising to his head as if he was about to swoon. Trixie was not particularly amused at the moment, mostly looking on with a raised eyebrow of skepticism. “I’m pretty sure there’s been ponies trying to research chaos magic so not like nopony’s been studying it.” “Oh, yes, those poor old fools. But they study chaos magic as if they were foals, thinking that because they can turn on a stove that they can cook but in reality burn there poor little hooves,” he replied, a stove top suddenly appearing. Trixie cringed just a little as he touched it before quickly drawing his hand back, shaking it as if it was in pain. “Okay, I think you’re kind of milking it a little.” Discord snapped his fingers and the lights turned back on. “Fair enough, but you get the idea. There’s not really a lot of ponies who I can teach this stuff too, but I think you got the mindset to maybe actually pull it off. After all, chaos magic is about want and desire, the willingness to reject reality and replace it with your own.”   “Yeah, thanks for the offer, but I don’t exactly think taking up any offer from you is a good idea,” she said, walking off toward the door in hopes that opening it would be enough of a signal for him to GET OUT OF HER ROOM. As she reached for the handle, however, it jumped off and began to run away. Giving out a slight “uggggh” in annoyance, she turned to around to try and just kick the door open when she noticed the floor of her room beginning to turn into a pink and brown checkerboard pattern. A jaunty tune began to permeate the air as Discord swirled around her again, grinning quite large as he used his claw to make her look up right at him. “Trixie, I don’t think you realize what I’m offering here! So why don’t you contemplate while I demonstrate the possibilities!” All of a sudden Trixie found herself poofed right on to the bed, which at some point had begun to dance along a bit to the tune, as Discord reappeared in front of her. “Well, Twilight Sparkle is an alicorn, parading around with them fancy wings.” Trixie watched as a little firework Twilight with wings flew around them. “But with this skill to make reality torn you’ll have the power to do amazing things!” Discord snapped his fingers, the firework Twilight exploded, the remnants falling around them like confetti “You could finally beat that nasty bear!” The sudden appearance of an illusionary Ursa Minor rampaging towards her with a roar sent Trixie scrambling off the bed. She tried to hide underneath it, but watched as another version of herself appeared and, with a quick wave of her hoof, caused the rampaging Ursa to slip on a banana peel, sliding right out the window. “Put on a performance that stuns the crowd!”   Suddenly Trixie could hear cheering, the illusionary version of her having taken a bow as ponies cheered and praised her for the heroic defeat of the Ursa. Trixie, by this point, found herself watching all the proceedings around her with a mix of skepticism and awe, nervously chewing her lip as she took in everything going around. Before she got comfortable, however, she found herself being catapulted up into the air, the ceiling apparently now being irrelevant as Discord floated next to her while she flailed around a bit. “You’ll have the razzle, dazzle, magical flair,” With the first statement she found her outfit – having been left on the ground below – returned to her before suddenly finding herself not so much flailing as….hovering? With that last word she suddenly felt something moving on her back, a feeling she really didn’t like all that much. She was afraid of whatever it was Discord did, but the draconequus simply grinned as Trixie stared dumbstruck at a new set of wings. “That’s sure to make Princess Luna proud! She’ll say: Why my Trixie dear, never prouder could I be!” Please don’t use Luna’s voice again, Trixie thought, shivering at Discord’s impression of the princess while he kept on his way. “She’ll be impressed, so will the rest You ain’t never had a friend like me.” Before she state that she really wasn’t sure she wanted a friend like him, the room went dark again. When a spotlight shone in her face, the wings were gone and she was on some stage in front of a crowd of Discords. One more popped up on the stage, the real one – if that was relevant – and summoned up a tux and magicians hat for her. “Life is your theater stage and I’m you’re attendee / You’ll best Twilight, become Luna’s pride. You ain’t never had a friend like me!” A Twilight Sparkle appeared on stage with a wave, and in the manic of the music – and her ego having not so subtlety been appealed to – she shot off a quick fireworks that seemed to do the trick of making it go away. And even though she knew the little “huzzah” from Princess Luna in the audience was all fake, well, she felt a little giddy. She then quickly shook those thoughts from her head. “Yes dear you pride yourself on magic. Changing color, sound, and taste” The auditorium went away, instead being replaced by a room of pure light blue like her coat, the music changing briefly tune to what sounded like mariachi music, and the sudden taste of…chili pepper? The spice was practically unbearable, so she didn’t even question it when a bucket of milk appeared, quickly dunking her head in. Upon pulling it up she found herself by a crowd laughing at her. It was quickly pushed away by a giant broom, however, quickly joined by a bucket of water being dumped on her yet left her dry and clean. “Forget the taunts, you true savant! Shame such talent has gone to waste.” “Okay Discord, I think…” A gloved hand appeared and shushed her as Discord kept going. With a quick point of his fingers, Twilight and her friends, Snips and Snails, and the Pie family, and that cruddy wheel merchant that sold her that bad wheel appeared. “Think of your enemies your fandom they’ll soon be.” She just looked on as they all began to cheer, that pink one apparently having gotten t-shirts and a party cannon that shot out a bunch of balloons shaped like her. “I’m in the mood to help you dude. You ain’t never had a friend like me.” Knocking away the gloved hand, she turned her attention to Discord. “Okay, I get it Discord, you can knock off the song. Besides, I’ve tried this whole game before already and Twilight still beat me so forget it!” Discord simply grinned.   “Can Twilight do this?” Discord stretched out and then snapped like a rubber-band, suddenly appearing as what looked like an infant version of himself that Trixie found kind of adorable. Didn’t have the time to tell him she’d done the age spell thing though before he pointed a claw and zapped her.   “Can Twilight do that?”   A quick glance at scales, the pointy teeth in her mouth, the moving of leathery wings clarifying her sudden membership of the dragon species. Okay, she had to give him that: Twilight didn’t exactly cause species change as far as she knew. “Can Twilight pull this?” At some point Discord had turned himself back to normal with a magician’s hat. No hesitation, Discord dug right in and quickly pulled out… a rather confused looking Prince Blueblood?   “Out of their little hat?” Blueblood was quickly stuffed back into the hat before he could say anything. Even Discord seemed a little confused at the arrival of the unicorn, but apparently didn’t care enough to hear him out. Not that Trixie minded: from the rumors she had heard of the guy he was a bit of a blowhard. “Can Twilight go boom!?” Discord exploded into pieces, with all the resulting fire and smoke. Trixie coughing as it cleared up, finding both herself and Discord back to normal. “Well looky here?” he sang, a mirror appearing as he checked himself out with a smarmy grin, pulling Trixie up close to him to join in the mirror gazing.   “Can Twilight say Arrivederci, snap like this, And make Luna’s man come right here?” And indeed, with a simple snap, Discord had summoned Luna’s flowing, ethereal mane right onto Trixie’s head before it quickly poofed away, hopefully going back to Luna. “So don’t just sit there slack-jawed, stupefied, Give me an answer, simply yes or no?” You can get all your wishes gratified, Be the star of every single show!” Discord jumped into the air on that last line, arms spread as a giant advertisement for “See the Great and Powerful Trixie only in Las Pegasus” appeared behind the two of them. “I’ve got a powerful urge to help you out, So what’cha say , I really wanna know? You’ve got an ego three miles long, no doubt,” “Hey!” she protested, but the way he said it sounded less like a taunt but almost like friendly bantering. Or maybe that was just because the cheerfulness of the music made all of this just seem so normal. Ugggggh. “Well all you’ve gotta say is yes like sooooo, and oh- Trixie listen dear, we’ll be the best pals you and me.” The two of them were in a photo booth, Trixie blinking with every flash as the pictures of the two of them – Discord making plenty of funny faces – printed out.   “You’ll be the best, with no contest!” She had a trophy, the base topped with a cast of Star Swirl the bearded,  in her hooves that simply said “The Great and Powerful Trixie” with “The Best” underneath it. The music began to crescendo into what she hoped was the finale, being thoroughly confused and awed and honestly quite lost at this point. “You ain’t never had a friend, never had a friend,” Discord sang, zapping the books on the bookshelf alive as they all danced around Trixie’s bed, which was now placed in the center of the room with them on it. “You ain’t never had a friend, never had a friend” he sang again, this time zapping up clones of himself in a variety of outfits, from a magicians outfit to golfer, skier, bathrobe and book, and all sorts of things she guessed were ‘things we’ll do together’ messages. She then found herself grabbed by Discord who wrapped her in a one armed hug as her bed began to rise, pretty much the entire room’s furniture and Discord dancing along. “You ain’t never…” More ponies and furniture dancing and cheering for them. “Had a…” Pegasi ponies flying with banners saying “Great and Powerful Trixie!”   “Friend…” Unicorn ponies shooting off fireworks. “Liiiiiike meeeeeee!” There wasn’t anything else, simply the sheer chaos of the situation rising and rising until…   Boom.   Nothing. Just her on her bed, the rest of the room normal, and Discord front of her. “You ain’t never had a friend like me,”   And with a wink and a smile, the draconeequs was gone.   Trixie simply sat in the now silent, still room, afraid to step off the bed in fear of somehow losing her grounding and finding herself in another musical number. The sudden knocking of the door, however, forced her attention to the reality around. She levitated it open to find Star Breaker on the other side. “Hey, you’ve seen Discord anywhere? Luna’s mane went missing for a moment and we’re pretty sure he’s behind it.” “Uhhh, no, don’t think so,” Trixie said, the whole experience having been surreal enough that denial seemed the easier thing to do at the moment. “Well alright, but if you do see him be careful. He likes to pull pranks on everyone. Good night again Trixie.” Star Breaker simply waved, and Trixie waved back, closing the door with her magic.   After taking a moment to get her bearings she gently slipped off the bed and walked towards the bathroom. She really needed a splash of cold water on her face to just shock her out of her stupor. Till then, she really couldn’t appreciate the shiny, navy blue tiles or the large, clawed bathtub that would be perfect for soaking in. Nope, she simply headed for the sink, turned on the water, and splashed her face with it till she felt thoroughly soaked. Levitating over a towel, she dried her face off, only to find upon opening her eyes that in the sink was a golden colored apple and a note taped to the bathroom mirror. I know taking up my offer can be a pretty big deal, so I made it easy for yah. Whenever you feel ready to take a walk on the chaotic side, just enjoy this healthy and nutritious snack and all the fun will be yours. Ta ta for now. Love, Discord. Trixie simply glared at the apple, using it to focus all her annoyance at Discord and his stupid musical number. What kind of fool did he take her for? She had tried that whole “use ancient artifacts to gain power” route before, and all it did was get her brainwashed and ruling an entire town as a dictator. As if she’d really take up Discord on some silly offer to get ‘chaos magic’. Still, it was nice that at least someone other kind of understood how she felt when she did her magic. For all the fluff, she did agree that at least they shared the whole “magic through will” thing or whatever you wanted to call it. What was that roleplayer class again, the one that ran off “Charisma” instead of intelligence? Meh, whatever, not like it was that important, but that was probably at least one way to describe it. But some sympathy in regards to spell casting style didn’t mean she was gonna eat some stupid apple, no matter how much Discord promised it would mean she’d get to one up Twilight and be able to impress Princess Luna. She’d be able to do that on her own, thank you very much: after all, that’s why Luna had taken her as an apprentice, right? She recognized that for all of Trixie’s mistakes there was real potential that simply hadn’t been given the chance yet. Feeling much better about herself, she simply grabbed the apple with a levitation spell and tossed it into the bottom of her drawer. She was tempted to throw it out the window, but right now Discord would probably just keep making it pop up in front of her or something. No, better to let it sit in the drawer where she could theoretically access it, that way Discord thought she might take him up on the offer and he’d lay off of her. He’d get bored of her eventually, right? For now, however, outsmarting beings of chaos was a secondary objective. Her first was to finally try out the totally still and not dancing bed. She was beat, and that musical number didn’t help. And since Luna was giving her a few days to adjust to the castle and a night-time schedule – because the princess of course was active mostly at night – she could simply snuggle right into bed and not worry about a thing. “Mmmm, so soft….” Trixie mumbled as her head laid on the pillow, a small smile on her face , “Much better than the wagon……”