In Somepony's Shadow

by Whammy

Arc 2: Grand Plans for the Grand Galloping Gala

“Hey, you missed a spot.”

Trixie groaned as she looked up into the rafters, her personal warden giggling at her from up in her perch above the kitchen. There was something particularly infuriating at how casual Star Breaker looked laying up there. That she was able to do so in her Night Guard armor was baffling.

“I was just about to wash that spot,” Trixie said with a huff as she pushed the scrub brush towards the spot Star Breaker had pointed out.

This had been her life for the past month. Just her scrubbing the kitchen floors – the messiest floors in the castle – while Star Breaker stood guard to make sure a certain mish-mash of creatures didn’t try any funny business. Apparently tearful confessions of anxiety and hugs were not quite the get out of jail free card Trixie thought they were (hey, worked in Ponyville). Besides, as long as the chaos magic was still running through her system, Luna had thought it too dangerous to go back to magic lessons, lest Trixie’s transformation into a draconequus continued. So, Luna had thought, some hard work with no magic allowed had seemed the perfect way to both punish her for making deals with Discord and to keep her busy enough (and tired enough) to do any magic.

Well, Luna hadn’t completely cancelled magic class. It was more that the practical lessons had been replaced with lots and lots of “theory of magic” lessons. Trixie would have rather just been expelled. How in the world did Twilight every find any of this stuff “fun” anyways?

Fortunately, by this point her body had returned to normal. No more Ursa paws and bunny rabbit tails, just her hooves and her luxuriously silver-colored mane and tail. Luna, of course, would have to do a check just to make sure her system was completely purged, but this was a good sign that her reign as “Chief Floor Scrubber” would finally come to an end. Just a few more –

“Trixie, watch out!”

Trixie watched as a blob of jelly splattered on the floor in front of her.

“Star Breaker, you said you’d stop bringing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to guard duty! You know you put way too much jelly in those things,” Trixie yelled at the bat pony.

“Hey, cut me some slack. I have to watch you during what’s supposed to be my dinner break. But don’t worry about it, this time it’s on me.”

Standing back, she watched as Star Breaker jumped down from the rafters, her wings flapping just enough to keep it from being a crash. Once she had her landing, the bat pony simply crouched down and…

“Ugh, did you really need to lick it off the floor?!” Trixie shouted.

“If you did your job it should be clean enough to eat off of, right?” Star Breaker replied, apparently satisfied with the display. “But seriously, just give me the brush. I’ll clean this spot since it’s my fault. You go and do whatever it is you do in those magic lessons with Princess Luna.”

Not one to complain about getting out of work, Trixie happily handed the brush and bucket over to Star Breaker. The mare was kind of weird and a little lazy (by guard standards), but over the last month the two had gotten along well enough. At the very least she was talkative, unlike many of the more stoic guards that routinely hung around the castle. If she had to be left here in here in silence? Sent shivers down her spine.

“Thank you. Hopefully, after tonight, you can finally go back to your normal guard stuff. Though, honestly, after spending a month with you I have no idea how they let you be a guard in the first place,” Trixie replied teasingly.

“Eh, what can I say. Having a hard head and stubborn attitude can get you pretty far in the guard business,” Star Breaker said with a shrug as she started to work on the spot.

“Uh, don’t you mean being hard-headed?”

“No, I literally have a hard head, and a body. Helps me be really good at ramming things, and the guard really appreciates a pony who can body slam a door open without bruising.”

Trixie blinked as she processed the thought, then slowly began to turn towards the exit.

“Right, well, I’m going to go ahead and head out now. Thanks again for covering – OOF.”

Stumbling backwards, Trixie rubbed at her muzzle. As she regained her footing, she began to look up at who it was she had bumped into.

“Oh, sorry about—"

“I do say, somepony should take better care to watch where they are going. You could have damaged my vest.”

Trixie rolled her eyes before giving this stallion who had interrupted her attempt at being apologetic a look over. He was a unicorn, a bit larger than her, white coat, long blonde mane and tail. His cutie mark looked like one of those compass roses on really fancy maps. At the moment he was frantically looking at his decorative vest, his bright blue eyes rapidly looking over every detail as he used his magic to tug and twist it back into perfect shape.

“Welcome to the kitchens, Prince Bluebood. Star Breaker at your service.”

Turning around, Trixie spotted Star Breaker standing in salute. The unicorn walked forward, gently bumping Trixie out of the way as he did so.

“At ease, but I am pleased to see that at least somepony remembers the proper protocol for addressing me,” the unicorn, apparently named Prince Blueblood, said.

While she had no idea what the proper protocol for this guy was, but that smarmy voice of his was really starting to get to her enough, and she knew what the protocol for that was. Before she could simply sneak out and leave Star Breaker to deal with this, however, he had apparently returned his attention to her.

“Speaking of which, who, exactly, might you be?”

Well, if there was one thing that Trixie enjoyed, it was introducing herself.

“Oh, my apologies. I am Princess Luna’s newest apprentice, the soon to be master of arcane arts, The Great and Powerful Trixie!”

She might not have had her cape and hat to add the full effect, but she still gave a magician’s bow at the end. Simple and polite, but hopefully enough to put her back in charge of this conversation.

As she stood up, however, she saw that this Prince Blueblood was completely unphased.

“Ahh, so you’re the apprentice I heard about. Honestly, I’m a little surprised you’re still here. I had thought you were expelled after the Discord fiasco.”

Trixie could feel a twitch in the corner of her eye. She began to open her mouth to say something, but thankfully Star Breaker interrupted her.

“Princess Luna decided to allow Miss Lulamoon to remain her apprentice, under the condition of one month spent scrubbing the floors under my supervision. She was just about to leave for her lessons, Prince Blueblood.”

“Ah, is that so? I had wondered why the kitchen looked drabber than normal. I mean, there’s a jelly stain right in plain sight,” he said, and Trixie appreciated solidarity from Star Breaker as her eye twitched as well.

“That was my mistake, and I was in the process of cleaning it. If you are worried that the kitchens will not be ready in time for the Grand Galloping Gala, I can assure you that the normal cleaning crews will be back starting tomorrow night.”

“Hmm, I suppose that will have to do,” Blueblood said with a sigh. “But, just in case, I will have my own personal janitorial staff arrive to do a second inspection. After all, I am in charge of Gala preparations this year, and I will not suffer it to be as disastrous as…that year.”

His attention returned to Trixie, and the raised eyebrow he gave her really made her wish that she still had some chaos magic, just to maybe seal up his mouth or something.

“Miss Lulamoon, was it? I suppose you are planning to attend the Grand Galloping Gala?”

“Uhh, yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

“Simply wondering. As I said, I will do everything in my power to make sure this year things will go perfectly, and I wish to make sure I am aware of all the potential…complications that might occur.”

Oh, he was just asking for her to do something, wasn’t he? However, she was just literally minutes away from freedom, so picking a fight with this stallion was the last thing she needed to do. She would not, however, let him have the last word.

“I can assure you that come the night of the Gala that I, The Gracious and Elegant Trixie, will be the most elegant and graceful guest at the gala.”

There was a second of silence as Blueblood looked at her, and then he began to laugh as he turned around to leave.

“Oh, you are quite the character, Miss Lulamoon,” he said, wiping away a single tear that had appeared in the corner of his eye. “It is my hope, of course, that you can hold yourself to that standard. But –” his eyes narrowed as he gave her one last look – “should you ruin this evening for me, I assure you I can make your time in Canterlot quite the unpleasant experience.”

And with that, he was gone, and Trixie could hear Star Breaker sigh with relief.

“Oh thank Luna he’s gone,” Star Breaker, said, taking a moment to sit on the ground. “I have never met such a pony so full of themselves in my life, and I’m a guard in Canterlot, so that’s saying something.”

“So…who was that anyway?” Trixie replied, double checking to make sure he was really gone. Coast looked clear to her.

When she looked back at the bat pony, however, Star Breaker looked dumbstruck.

“You’re joking, right?”

“Uhh, no?” she replied. “Why would I know someone as obnoxious as him?”

“Prince Blueblood? Most eligible bachelor in Canterlot? Nephew of the princesses…sort of.”

Star Breaker began to wave her hoof in the air as if she was trying count something, but she quickly gave it up and just shook her head.

“Okay, he’s, like, their some number of great-nephew through…something. I don’t know, the royal family tree is kind of a mess. I think it involves Princess Platinum or…whatever, not important. What is important, however, is he’s kind of a big deal in the Canterlot social circle.”

“Oh, is that all?” Trixie said, shrugging as she turned to leave again. “Never really payed much attention to politics.”

Before she could exit, however, she found her way blocked by the bat pony, which gave Trixie a moment to notice that bat pony was about a head taller than her. Huh.

“Yeah, you kind of lost the right to say that once you became the apprentice of a princess. One way or another, it’s going to catch up to you.”

Trixie rolled her eyes as she side-stepped the bat, making her way out of the kitchen and starting the walk to Luna’s chambers.

“Seriously? I already turned halfway into a draconequus after making a deal with Discord and I’m still here. What exactly is the worse he can do?”

“Hmm, fair. He doesn’t really have that much pull with the princesses. But, if there’s one thing I learned having to stalk you for the last month, it’s you’re a lot more…extraverted than Twilight was,” Star Breaker said as she began to fly next to her.

“So?” Trixie sad, giving the bat pony the side-eye with raised eyebrow.

“Well, Twilight was the center of a lot of rumors when she was here. But, well, lock yourself up in a library all day and they don’t really get to you. You, however, are a pony who needs to be in the spotlight.”

“True, true,” Trixie said with a nod.

“And while his rep took a bit of a hit after this one mare just absolutely ripped into him at the Gala, he’s still got enough of a pull that he could make sure you’re never invited to just about any high-society events, ever.”

“Still not seeing the problem here. The Grand Galloping Gala is pretty much my limit for that kind of stuff anyway.”

Star Breaker facehoofed and took a deep breath.

“Okay, how about this. He’s got enough clout that, if he wanted to, he could get you blacklisted so you could never perform in any theater in Canterlot.”

Star Breaker had the slightest smirk as Trixie stopped, brow furrowed with determination.

“Oh, so that’s the kind of game he wants to play? Well, the Great and Powerful Trixie already vowed to be the best guest at the Gala, but now Trixie will become the best guest of any Gala ever!”

“Trixie, no, that’s not…and she’s gone.”

Star Breaker simply flew in place as she watched Trixie’s form disappear down the hall and up the stairs towards Luna’s chambers. On the one hoof, she appreciated Trixie’s enthusiasm and energy. On the other, well, Trixie did kind of have a record of bad decision making. If she was really planning to go all out at the Gala, well, maybe Blueblood had a point about making sure there were plans in place for complications…

---

“Mmm, perhaps this one? No, it might come off too ostentatious. This other one, however, might come off too simple…”

As Luna looked over the various sketches of dresses that Rarity had sent her, she was starting to appreciate why her sister simply went in the royal regalia and nothing else. Fashion had become rather different since the days of yore. Some formal gowns reminded her of the older fashions, but others would have been scandalous in the court of Princess Platinum. Figuring out what kind of message she wanted to send and how to send it would be more complicated than she thought.

“What do you think, Tiberius? Which would you pick?” she said, nudging the papers towards her pet possum, who was comfortably laying on a pillow on the desk. Her question asked, he stirred a bit and began to look them over. After several seconds passed, however, he simply shrugged.

“Thank you for trying. We may need to pay Rarity a visit to ask more about how fashion has changed in these last thousand years,” she said, sighing as she used her magic to push the papers to the side, Tiberius scrambling back to his cushion to rest.

Of course, the choice of what to wear was simply a symptom of her larger worries. She had avoided the last few Galas, first due to having only recently returned and not yet ready, the rest simply out of using her nightly duties as an excuse to avoid going. Her sister, however, had noted to her the importance of attending now that she had an apprentice. A formal presentation of her to Canterlot society would be beneficial, especially in helping Trixie gain a larger social circle beyond the castle staff. No repeating the mistakes with Twilight.

“ ‘Plus, it would help you not be such a shut-in’ ” Luna said, mimicking her sister’s voice with a tinge of sarcasm. At the time she had protested she had, in fact, did go gout, but from her sister’s view her dream walks and the castle holiday parties didn’t “count”.

“Easy for her to say. She was always better at the parties than I was. Even an hour leaves me so drained,” she said, flopping onto the table, looking up at the clock. Trixie would probably be done cleaning soon, meaning it was almost time for her and lessons. By now Tiberius was comfortable asleep, leaving her with nothing more than her thoughts.

“Hmm, one more minute of self-pity should do it.”

It was mostly a joke, but she did, legitimately, feel that way as well. The expectations regarding the availability of princesses was much higher now than in the old days, thanks in part to her sister’s own preference for being out and about among the ponies setting several centuries of precedent. It wasn’t exactly a bad thing either. It helped to increase the bonds between ruler and subject, and she so did enjoy Nightmare Night parties. At the same time, however, she had always valued the quietness that the night gave her, even as she wanted more ponies to enjoy it. Now plenty of ponies took advantage of the night to party and enjoy themselves and, well, now she didn’t want to join in. The irony was smothering, really.

“Still, it is expected of me now to attend such things. Plus, Trixie would likely enjoy it, and I can’t abandon her to face the socialites on her own. Speaking of which, she should be hear by—"

As if on cue, Trixie came barreling through the door, stopping with a slide as she turned to face Luna, her breath taking a moment to catch up with the mare.

“Trixie, there was no need to rush to get here. Did something happen?”

“Prince…Blueblood…blacklist…theaters,” the mare said, panting between words.

Having the usual set of tea and sandwiches ready to go, Luna encased the teapot in her magic and poured a glass, levitating it to Trixie and supporting her as the blue-coated mare quickly downed it. After a moment the mare’s breath stabilized.

“Could you please say that again? What is this about Prince Blueblood?”

“I ran into him earlier, and he kind of said that if I messed up the Gala that he’d make me life here miserable, and then Star Breaker said he could probably get me blacklisted from the theaters. And I will not stand to be banned from any theater before I get the chance to perform there”

Luna sighed, but she held back from rolling her eyes. After the events of the previous month she had learned to take Trixie’s anxieties more serious and were worth addressing head on. Even when those anxieties sounded like the same tired anxieties about gossip and social drama she dealt with in the dreams of the Canterlot elite.

“Trixie, I understand that my…nephew, was it? Celestia was never quite forth-coming on how exactly he is related to me, now that I think about it,” she said, rubbing a hoof under her muzzle in thought before putting it back down. “But, in any case, I can assure you his bark is worse than his bite. That is the saying, right?”

Trixie nodded.

“Right. As I said, while I understand that Prince Blueblood can be a rather…aggravating pony at times, and particularly spoiled, but I have never understood him to be particularly cruel,” she said, walking over to their usual meeting table, pouring herself some tea. “Still, if he has truly threatened you in such a way, I will remind you that the words of a princess are worth more than a distant nephew’s complaints. If he does, in fact, attempt to ‘blacklist’ you, I will personally have a word with him and any ,” she said, triumphantly drinking her tea.

“Yeah…I don’t want you to do that,” Trixie said as she took her own place across the table.

“Oh?” Luna replied, curious as to the mare’s reasoning.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love being your apprentice, and I maaaay have used the social status that comes with that to score some box seats at an upcoming magic show for free.”

“You did you what?”

“Not important.”

Luna made a note to ask Star Breaker which establishment had done this so that she could properly refund them later, after a talk with Trixie. She was aware that Trixie’s new status would come with potential perks, but it was probably best to curb the desire for such special treatment.

“The thing is, if Blueblood does have a thing against me, using you to get around it will just make it worse. It’d be, like, when you’re a kid who isn’t popular at school so your mom goes around and talks with the other moms about play-dates. Then, because those moms loved the idea they force their kid to hang out with you, which makes them resent you even more, making you really unpopular.”

“Did…did that happen to you?”

“Magic kindergarten. Which means I got the experience to know that the best way to deal with this is to stand up to him myself,” Trixie said, nodding firmly. “And I got a plan.”

Upon hearing that, Luna could just feel the anxiety bubbling up inside her. While she trusted that Trixie’s failed dealings with Discord had dissuaded her from going for the most drastic of ideas, that did not mean that the mare’s imagination would not jump to the second most drastic plan.

“And what, exactly, does this plan entail?” she asked, a slight grimace of worry on her face as Trixie began to laugh.

“It’s simple, really. I, the Graceful and Elegant Trixie, will master the social graces of the Gala so well that she will become known as the ‘greatest Gala guest’ ever!” she said, slamming her hooves down on the table in dramatic punctuation, apparently startling Tiberius awake, who squeaked in protest before scrambling off somewhere more quiet to sleep.

Luna waited to hear more for this plan, perhaps something involving fireworks or something else. When Trixie simply stood there, forehooves still on the table, Luna simply had to blink.

“Is that it?”

“That’s it.”

The weight lifted off of Luna’s shoulders at confirmation that Trixie’s plan was, simply put, to just learn proper social etiquette and be perfectly lovely at the Gala. She even had to laugh a little, leaving a gentle smile behind.

“If that is what you wish to do, Trixie, then you have my full support. In fact, if you would like, you can even join me in my own lessons on the proper etiquette for the Gala.”

“Wait, you don’t know it already?”

Luna shook her head.

“No, not anymore, it seems. Sure, some habits have survived the millennia, but enough has changed that I’m at a bit of a lost on many things. You see, back then, we were not expected to mingle as much as is custom now. In fact, just before you got here…”

Glancing over at her desk, Luna floated over the various dresses that Rarity had sent her and displayed them to Trixie.

“I was at a complete loss at what dress to wear. Twilight’s friend Rarity had sent such lovely samples, but I… is something the matter?”

Luna stared at Trixie, the latter’s eyes widened and glued to the dresses. When prompted by her question, however, Trixie went face first into the table.

“Ugggh, I completely forgot about ordering a dress. How long is it until the Gala?”

“Two weeks.”

“UUUUGGGGHHH, there’s no way I can get a dress in time. How did I completely forget about that?”

Luna glanced at her pictures again and, remembering her earlier jealousy of her sister’s decision to simply wear the regalia, she had hatched her own plan.

“If you’re willing to let me use my pull as princess just a bit, I think I can arrange a dress for you in time.”

“You mean just ask Twilight’s friend to do it?” Trixie said, her face no longer buried in the table but instead propped up on a hoof in thought.

For a moment Luna was concerned Trixe was going to reject the idea. Twilight was still a touchy subject to Trixie for some reason, but she hoped things had progressed enough that the idea of one of her friends helping her would be off-putting.

“You know what, that should be fine. She must be good if you’re looking at them, and if I’m going to beat Blueblood at the Gala I want every advantage I can get.”

Well, one could call that emotional growth. Though it was mostly Trixie’s competitiveness that was spurring this potential reconciliation, which was not exactly Luna’s first choice in methods, sometimes it took allying with an enemy out of convenience for a friendship to form. Hopefully at least that much could occur.

“Well, it is my understanding that Rarity is quite the dressmaker, so I can only assume that arriving in one of her dresses will surely make you the bell of the ball…that is the saying, right?”

“Did you mean bell with no ‘e’ or belle with an ‘e’?”

“The former?”

“It’s the latter.”

“Right, then, I will arrange for the dress as soon as possible. You may need to visit the royal tailor to get measurements taken. It may be a little last minute, but I’m sure Rarity can use any of these designs as a starting point for a design.”

“Whew, that is such a relief. It would have been terrible if my master plan had fallen apart before it even began,” Trixie said, sitting back up and wiping her brow. “Anyway, enough about that. Magic lesson time!”

Luna chuckled as she levitated over the usual stack of books they had become so reliant on this past month of magic-free magic lessons.

“Very well, Trixie. I’m quite confident that Discord’s chaos magic has finally purged itself from your system and it is therefore safe for you to use magic again.”

Luna watched as Trixie’s eyes lit up with excitement, and for a moment she felt quite guilty for what she was about to do next.

“However, as we did not finish last night’s lessons on the magical theories of Starswirl the Bearded, I already planned this one to be a continuation. As such, it is unlikely the case we’ll get to actually casting magic tonight.”

And with the usual groans of despair from Trixie, another night of lessons began.

Author's Note:

Hey, look, there's actual writing now, like, half a year later. Job markets suck, back at grad school another year, and fanfic is just so nice to come back to as something to write about that's not your dissertation or cover letters.

So this chapter kicks off the next arc of the story, which will center around Trixie and Luna's various anxieties leading up to the Grand Galloping Gala. As I've said in blog posts, I'm hoping this time around I can write the story with a broader supporting cast of characters, but the action will still mostly be split between Trixie and Luna's perspectives. I am hoping to keep a steady pace with this and not have a whole year break in between or anything again. So, enjoy!

Edit: Since it's been a few years since Star Breaker was first introduced in "In Somepony's Shadow", and it was in one scene, figured it'd be good to reupload the artwork done of her by my friend Coffee, who did art of several years ago:

You'll learn a bit more about her throughout the story, but I just like showing off my friend's art.

Comments

[MissSpells]

Ooo, Gala arc! This should be fun ~
I'm lookin' forward to how this goes. I have a feeling that being the Perfect Gala Guest is gonna be a bit harder for Trix to pull off than it sounds... it's a hard life out there for an attention horse. Especially when you've got Prince Buttchin on your case.
Also, big same on the daytime social energy drain, Luna—big same.
(Oddly, I'm particularly looking forward to how Star Breaker handles the Gala. Thicc bones come in handy for dancing too, right?)

[Whammy]

9836906
Yeah, I finished writing up an outline of the plot pretty recently, and I'm pretty excited about it too. Get to play with a few of my favorite tropes to mess with.

As for Star Breaker, sadly our favorite little bat-pony guard will be on duty the night of the Gala. But don't worry, I'm sure she'll get a chance to dance sometime.

[MissSpells]

9836933
Aww, Breaker. Dance like nobody's watchin', babe (until everybody's watchin' since you upended a table)
I look forward to it~

[Jaycren]

9836933
Huh, wonder what would happen if Rarity found out about Trixie wanting to tweak Bluebloods nose. Huh, why do I suddenly have an evil grin on my face? Heh.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

This is quickly becoming my favorite series.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

Before she could exit, however, she found her way blocked by the bat pony, which gave Trixie a moment to notice that she was about a head taller than her. Huh.

Wait... Trixie is taller? Or Breaker?

[Whammy]

9838017
Oh, sorry, that's supposed to be that SB is taller than Trixie. Will clarify that.