Bug In The City

by PointlessGizmo

Chapter 4 - Lingering Remnants

Upon the apartment's balcony, Trixie watched the late afternoon sun slowly sink below the horizon, expertly guided as always by Celestia. As the last vestiges of its deep tangerine glow disappeared from view, giving way to the inky-blue skies of evening, the unicorn sighed. She'd spent all day attempting to figure out the mystery behind the sporadic green energy bursts from her horn, and the reason she'd been able to perform the other magician's trick with no prior knowledge of the necessary technique. However, her efforts had thus far amounted to very little.

Of course, she'd long since worked out that she'd somehow become capable of a type of exotic magic that allowed her to temporarily assimilate the skills of others - that much was obvious. She'd already become painfully aware of its temporary nature when she'd attempted to perform the Prismatic Orb Shower trick again - the green flash did not come, and nor was she able to perform the spell. The questions that troubled her now were why, and where had this new ability come from? What were its limitations? Was it safe? Heck, she didn't even understand how to invoke it, at the bar it had somehow just... happened.

Trixie headed back inside the apartment and slumped defeatedly on the couch, her face buried in her hooves. If she couldn't figure out how to use this new ability to her advantage within the next six days, her contract with the cabaret could be lost! Worse still, she could be made to perform anyway, and would be forced to use her regular routine! She could be a laughing stock, shortly followed by being an unemployed laughing stock! Failure was not an option - Trixie had to unravel this mystery. Her future in Canterlot depended upon it.

----------

A familiar dull thud against the balcony doors provided Trixie with a welcome distraction from her troubled thoughts. She let out a wry chuckle to herself as she remembered that she'd meant to leave the balcony doors open for Leech to fly in through - and as usual, she'd forgotten. Trotting over to the door and gently opening it with her magic, she brought the still-dazed Leech into the apartment's warmth, all the while wearing an apologetic smile upon her face. Fortunately, Leech was quick to forgive, and before long the duo were sitting side by side on the couch as Leech excitedly talked about his day.

"...zzso Leech managed to get two hundred zzscoopzz of ice cream with the money Leech got from Fanzzy Pantzz! Bozz didn't know what to zzsay!" finished Leech proudly, some minutes later.

Trixie couldn't help but laugh at the changeling's antics - for all the annoyance and frustration Leech often caused, he never failed to raise her spirits when she was feeling depressed.

"I'll bet he didn't!" said Trixie with a chuckle, the mental image of Snap Happy attempting to eat a gigantic ice cream bringing forth another fit of giggles from the stressed showmare.

Presently, Leech hopped down from the couch.

"Doezz Trixzzie want zzsnack?" he asked, having heard the mare's stomach growl several times during his story.

Trixie paused pensively for a moment, mulling the offer over in her mind. She didn't especially feel like eating, but presently her stomach made a noise reminiscent of a fully-grown dragon yawning. Realizing she'd been so lost in thought that she hadn't eaten a crumb since breakfast, Trixie concluded that she really ought to get some nourishment inside of her.

"Yes please," she said to Leech, "There's some daisy and cress sandwiches in the refrigerator, can you grab me one of those?"

Leech gave a salute to Trixie, just as he'd done with Snap Happy. This time he managed to punch the hat off of his head entirely, having neglected to remove it when he'd returned to the apartment. Quickly realizing his error, Leech hastily stopped his advance towards the kitchenette and levitated his hat safely back onto his head, where it belonged. Trixie, having witnessed the whole event, sat with her jaw dropped and her mouth agape. Leech's magic aura... it was the same shade of green and of the same opacity as the rogue flashes from her own horn!

"Leech, do that again!" cried Trixie, forgetting her fatigue and leaping to her hooves.

Although he hated to mistreat his precious head-wear in such a way, especially so soon after acquiring it, Leech dutifully slugged the hat across the room once again with a forehoof. Trixie shook her head vigorously.

"No, no, not that bit - the other part, the part where you lifted the hat up!" she said, a mixture of impatience and urgency permeating her voice.

Giving a nonchalant shrug, Leech duly obliged. Deftly grasping the hat within his horn's energies, he raised it up and held it in front of Trixie so that she could inspect it. Leech didn't bother to ask her reasoning - usually when he asked why Trixie wanted something done, he was still none the wiser when she'd explained.

Trixie had never really taken much notice when Leech used his powers to do everyday tasks - after all, she herself and every other unicorn in Canterlot did the exact same thing. Yet now, her deep violet eyes were seemingly transfixed upon the emerald plasma that rippled and swirled around Leech's cliched reporter hat. There was no doubt about it, this was the exact same type of energy that she been emanating from her own horn. Her trance was broken by a somewhat distressed Leech.

"Can Leech zzstop now?" he panted, "Leech'zz horn izz getting tired!"

"Oh right... yes, of course, you can stop." replied Trixie, coming back to her senses.

With a sigh of relief, Leech gently brought his hat back over to where he stood and again placed it upon his head, before continuing on his vital supply-gathering mission to the refrigerator. Trixie meanwhile, had descended into the shadowy depths of fervent thought once again.

"If the energy I'm emitting is changeling energy..." she mused, before a wave of panic slammed headlong into her train of thought, causing her to sit bolt upright in horror, "... does this mean I'm still part changeling?"

Struggling to quell the rising tide of worry that was rapidly building inside her, Trixie swallowed hard to combat the ever-spiralling feeling of nausea that threatened to burst forth from her stomach at any moment. With some effort, she managed to bring her breathing under control, and within moments she was able to think reasonably clearly once more.

"No, no, that's silly - and impossible." she reassured herself, her adrenal glands reducing their output with each self-comforting word. "I was looked over twice by the changeling orderlies back at the hive, and had a thorough medical checkup by pony doctors shortly after I got here. Even when disguised, changelings have massive internal differences to ponies, which would almost certainly have been spotted. My body is definitely one hundred percent Great and Powerful Trixie!"

Trixie paused once more, having ignited the fires of inspiration within her mind - her body was pure pony, yes... but perhaps... just perhaps there remained some stray vestiges of changeling energy intertwined with her own innate magic reserves.

----------

Presently, Leech arrived back from the kitchen area, sandwich in tow. He passed the plate to Trixie, setting it down onto the couch next to her. Seeing the snack, Trixie gave a warm smile to her friend.

"Thank you Leech," she said politely, "I'll eat it in a few minutes. Just need to get my appetite back." she added, giving her adrenaline-gorged stomach a sympathetic rub as it recovered from her previous panic.

"Zzsomething wrong with Trixzzie?" asked Leech with some consternation, noticing his friend's seemingly worried face.

"Actually, Leech, there's something I need to ask you - about changelings, and the abilities they have." Trixie ventured, somewhat sheepishly. This was the first time she'd ever had to ask Leech for information!

"Azzk away!" said Leech with a broad grin, although he wasn't really sure he'd be able to answer. He was just a lowly drone after all, and didn't really know much about his species as a whole - he just fixed things. Badly.

"Basically, my question is this - when a changeling takes on the form of somepony else, what happens when they're asked to do something that only that pony can do?" she queried.

"That'zz an eazzy one!" replied Leech, "Even bazzic changelingzz can copy zzsome of dizzguizze pony's talentzz. Cannot uzzually do azz well azz original pony, but izz enough to get by! Only high-rankzz can abzzorb knowledge though." he added, with more than a hint of lament.

Trixie's suspicions were confirmed - the energy within her was indeed changeling magic, more specifically the type that allowed changelings to at least partially imitate the abilities of their intended targets. Trixie thought back to the incident at Ponyville, where Leech had taken Rainbow Dash's form - Leech's own innate flying abilities had been multiplied a hundred fold when in the form of the spectral-maned pegasus. Whilst not as technically impressive as the real Rainbow's, Leech had been able to accomplish competent stunts, swoops and dives, whereas in his normal form it was a miracle if he could even land properly. Of course. Why hadn't she made this connection sooner?

"I see," replied Trixie, her worry slowly dissolving into an increasing sense of excitement, "but how exactly do you copy your disguise's abilities?"

Leech gave another shrug.

"Leech doezz not know, it juzzt happenzz when Leech uzzezz a dizzguizze." he replied.

"Horseapples!" cursed Trixie under her breath. It seemed that this talent emulation power didn't quite work in the same way when combined with unicorn magic. It would require conscious effort to call forth, rather than being a subconscious part of disguising as it appeared to be in changelings.

"Why doezz Trixzzie azzk, anyway?" queried Leech.

----------

With a slight sigh, Trixie decided it'd be best to divulge her secret to Leech - now that she had a better idea of what she was dealing with, she wasn't quite as concerned about causing undue worry for her changeling companion. She explained to him how she'd had a spontaneous flash of changeling energy which had allowed her to emulate another pony's trick with moderate success. She also told Leech of how she'd been racking her brains attempting to repeat the procedure, due to her need to bolster her own inventory of spells in preparation for her big show the next week.

"Zzo Trixzzie doezz have lazzting zzside effect from changeling tranzzformation..." said Leech thoughtfully, remembering High General Clone's warning that side effects were a possibility.

"Indeed," affirmed Trixie, "but it's an effect that I can use to our advantage... if only I knew how to use it properly!" she continued in a frustrated tone.

Leech burst into another big smile and strolled over to the balcony doors, pushing them open as he did so.

"Trixzzie follow Leech!" he said, beckoning Trixie with a forehoof. "Leech hazz planzz!"

Curious to see what Leech had planned, and astounded that he'd been able to formulate a plan at all, Trixie hauled herself onto her hooves and cantered out onto the balcony to join Leech. She found him leaning on the balcony's railing, observing the ponies strolling by in the street below.

----------

Canterlot's evening life was always an experience to remember - every evening was like a weekend. No matter the day of the week or the time of year, every street in the city was alive with activity until the small hours of the morning. Bistros remained open, the delectable tones of classical music could be heard drifting through the night sky from concert halls, and street performers practiced their chosen arts among the bustle of ponies passing by in their evening attire. It was the street performers that Leech seemed to be looking at, intent in his eyes.

"Trixzzie, help Leech pick a target." he requested.

Joining her friend in peering over the balcony, Trixie's eyes scanned the heaving throngs of upper-crust ponies that made their way through the streets below. She noted several street performers stationed at various points in the crowds, some attracting more attention than others. There were three Earth ponies who seemingly formed a street dance troupe, a singing pegasus and a unicorn mime.

"Alright," began Trixie, rubbing a hoof to her chin, "how about the dancers?"

With this, Leech's horn glowed as he bathed his body in the familiar deep-green haze of magical flame, emerging as a perfect replica of one of the dancing ponies. He cantered back into the apartment in his new form, a pale yellow stallion with a chocolate-and-white striped mane and tail. Trixie remained on the balcony, and watched through the door in amazement as Leech began to dance all around the room, gracefully pirouetting and delicately spinning upon one hoof. Accidentally dropping his disguise mid-spin, he promptly fell over onto his flank.

"Zzsee?" he said, getting up and rubbing his hindquarters, "It'zz eazzy! Juzzt zzstare at pony you want to copy and let your horn do the rezzt!"

----------

Encouraged by the ease with which Leech had taken on the talents of another pony, Trixie peered over the balcony once again and fixed a steely gaze upon the same dancing ponies that Leech had taken his disguise from. Trixie had never really cared much for dancing and the physical performing arts, instead preferring magic and illusions. Nevertheless, she focused an intense level of concentration on the ponies who cavorted and frolicked below her. Alas, nothing happened. Sweat streamed down Trixie's face, and she feared she'd give herself a snoutbleed, such was her level of straining. Still nothing, beyond a few feeble green sparks. Unable to concentrate any harder, Trixie ceased her attempt and collapsed into a panting heap on the balcony floor.

"It's.... no.... good...." she gasped breathlessly, "tried... hardest... nothing... happened."

"Maybe it'zz becauzze they're Earth poniezz?" suggested Leech, "Maybe Trixzzie can only copy unicorn thingzz?"

"Perhaps..." panted Trixie, rising to her hooves,

"Or maybe..." she thought to herself, "it's emotionally-driven. I've never cared much for dance, but those tricks I saw at the bar... I wanted more than anything else to be able to do them, and without warning, I found that I could! Besides, the only unicorn performer down there is a mime, and I am NOT mimicking that. I hate mimes!"

Trixie decided that the only way to prove or disprove her new hypothesis was to test it - and to do that, she'd need to go where there were talents on show that she actually wanted for herself. Making a split second decision, she turned away from the balcony's edge.

Suddenly sprinting back into the apartment, Trixie ran past Leech and into her bedroom, emerging moments later wearing her best evening cape. Similar in style and overall design to her usual show cape, it was a navy blue in coloration, with exquisite hoof-stitched golden stars on it. It had been one of the many gifts that Trixie and Leech had received for their heroics upon their arrival in Canterlot, although Trixie had never worn it until now.

"Leech, get changed." she said briskly. "We're going out for the evening!"

"Change into what?" asked Leech. "And where are Trixzzie and Leech going?"

"Anything that's not a changeling." answered Trixie, remembering Class Act's disdain for Leech's species.

"As for where we're going... we're heading to the Le Cheval Merde cabaret bar!"

Comments

[Garbhan]

Finish reading one chapter, "1 new notification"
i55.photobucket.com/albums/g138/Joker_Airsoft/Moving%20Images/ILikeThatGif.gif

[Dusty the Royal Janitor]

"Leech hazz planzz"

You could not imagine how much I laughed when I read that.

Keep up the good work, mah boi. Gold star!

[Mr. Grimm]

The Horse-Sh*t Cabaret? You, sir, have officially won the internet. (And no, unfortunately, I don't speak French, I only know a handful of words.)

I hope there are no other side effects when Trixie uses her talent. Like, for instance, her starting to turn back into a changeling.

[PointlessGizmo]

1330163

Subtle references are fun, aren't they?

1330504

I was wondering when someone would pick up on the bar's name, surprised nobody saw it in the first chapter. Yes indeed, Trixie's got herself a contract with Horse Shit. She really knows how to pick an employer.

Now, where shall I spend my Internet...?

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

1331327 Even more so when we can pick them up. :D And ah, so that's it. She needs to want to learn how to do it. Makes a bit of sense, actually.