Idol Daydreams

by Caffeinated Pinkie

Chapter 3

“Idol, why did you put a ‘lick me’ sign on my back?”

Idol turned to look at Thorax who was staring at a partially ripped sheet of paper recently removed from his person. “I did no such thing,” he replied.

Both changelings were walking down an empty hallway in the Crystal Palace. The setting sun cast deep shadows across the corridor with no artificial lights functioning to offset the atmosphere. The princesses had been attempting to determine how many of them it took to screw in a light bulb for several weeks, but had yet to actually do anything about it.

Thorax fixed him with a bored stare. “I watched you tape it on.”

“That could have been any changeling.” Idol shook his head. “We can shapeshift, you know.”

Thorax snorted. “You did it five seconds ago.” An innocent whistle was the only response. He frowned. “Why have you been messing with me so much lately?”

Idol sighed and stopped walking. “At the behest of Mothchaser, I have been attempting to help you build character.” He looked at the ceiling and continued, “She assured me taping a paper with the words ‘lick me’ to a pony’s back was a tradition all foals experience.”

“I think you mean ‘kick me’,” Thorax responded with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh. That would explain why Mothchaser was giggling so much while suggesting the idea.” Idol rubbed his chin. “I figured she was simply having a stressful night.”

---

Idol paused at the entrance to the bar and glared at Thorax. It was late in the evening and a brisk cold had descended upon Canterlot City. They stood outside one of the more popular guard watering holes, bundled in several layers of jackets, scarves, and fluffy hats.

“What?” Thorax eventually asked after several moments of awkward silence.

The glare didn’t lessen. “I want you to be on your best behavior, do you understand?”

Thorax waved a hoof. “I’m not a child, you know. I know how to—”

Idol stomped a hoof on the ground, interrupting Thorax. The effect was mostly lost due to the bunny slippers he had scavenged from Topaz. Winter nights were no jokes to changelings. “Because,” he began sharply, “I would hate to explain to Shining Armor how you never returned from your first meeting with bat ponies.”

Thorax took a step back. “Wh— what?” He gulped as Idol moved closer.

Idol whispered into his ear, “It is a little known secret that naughty changelings are a delicacy to bat ponies.”

Thorax shivered, looking over his shoulder at the bar. “N— no, that’s ridiculous!”

“Is it?” Idol questioned before shrugging. “I do not know if Topaz has told you this but I was exiled with another changeling.” Another gulp from the smaller changeling. “He did not survive his first meeting with the night guard.”

Now visibly quaking in his boots, Thorax attempted to scoot away from the door. “Maybe th— this was a b— bad idea,” he managed.

Not giving him a chance to run, Idol lifted him in his magic and strode boldly through the door to the bar. Thorax tried to run in midair, but was instead dropped in front of several bat ponies. He froze in place.

When Mothchaser caught sight of the two of them, she licked her lips and slinked over. Thorax, of course, screamed and fainted.

Idol stared at the unconscious changeling and then at Mothchaser. “I believe your idea may have been too extreme.”

---

The two troublemakers, Thorax and Idol, pushed their way through bramble and flora to the drenched campsite. They had just arrived in the Everfree Forest a few days earlier and already Thorax was having a miserable time.

“Can we please just leave?” Thorax begged for the seventh time that hour. Idol said nothing. “I get it, alright? I shouldn’t have taught Flurry to do that with the oatmeal, but the doghouse was not my fault!”

Idol only snorted. Thorax took that as a cue to continue. “Please, I am soaking wet, starving, sleep deprived, covered in scratches, and probably have a few extra holes from the timberwolf attack!”

“Do you know why we are not going yet?” Idol asked, stopping and looking down at the other changeling. Thorax shook his head. “When I was your age, suffering in the wilderness was instrumental in molding me into a functional member of society.”

Thorax sighed and looked down. He scraped at the ground for a few seconds before smiling brightly. Looking back at Idol, he excitedly said, “Actually, you’re right! It would certainly come in handy for all of those friendship adventures I go on to get changelings to come from all across the land to proclaim me as their king…” he trailed off. “Good plan, Idol. I will follow in your hoofsteps!”

To this day it is unknown whether Thorax was brilliantly stupid or stupidly brilliant at that moment.

---

The train station was crawling with ponies of all shapes and sizes. Idle conversation and the occasional shout filled the air, mixing together to form a cacophony of pony noises. A train pulled into the station, slowing to a crawl with a fearsome screech. Shining shuddered at the noise by his position at the drop-off point, sitting on a simple metal bench. The doors slid open after a few minutes, releasing its violent inhabitants to pursue the destruction of the world. Or whatever it is train-dwellers do.

Grimacing, Shining shook his head and reminded himself to stop thinking like Idol. Down that road lay terrors the likes of which Celestia only knew. ‘Twas best to just steer clear of such danger altogether, lest he end up like Bold.

Amongst the ponies stepping off the train were two very pony-like non-ponies. Idol and Thorax, both disguised as ponies, moved away from the doors and began searching for Shining Armor. Well, scurried might be a better term for what Idol did. He was practically running from the infernal machine as quickly as possible, an abject look of terror across his face.

Shining stood up upon spotting the duo and began wading through the crowd of ponies to get to them. “Idol! Thorax!” he called, garnering their attention. Once he made it all the way to them, he asked, “How was the camping trip?”

Thorax took a half-step back when Shining went in for the hug. His bear hugs were infamous for their raw bone-cracking strength. “Idol made me make a campfire with magic,” Thorax began. Idol perked up at his name. “It was rainy and humid and there were parasprites everywhere!” He smiled brightly.

Idol grumbled and crossed his forelegs, as ponies did. “It was going so well, until I realized he was having fun.”

Thorax’s smile disappeared and he focused a glare on Idol.

Author's Note:

Sorry this chapter took a bit to get out. I wanted to step back from writing for a bit to focus on other projects that I had been neglecting. In any case, I’ll try to get the next one out sooner! Below is the conversation this comes from.

Idol only bullies Thorax

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Woah, what’s this? Proofreaders who have not given up on me yet?

• KarmaSentinal
• Keybounce

Comments

[Lord Headcheez]

I really hope the actual fic continues beyond S2. I would love to see how canon-Idol reacts to Thorax!