Bug In The City

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Yesterday's Heroes
Chapter 2 - Changeling For Hire
Chapter 3 - Read All About It
Chapter 4 - Lingering Remnants
Chapter 5 - A Night At The Cabaret
Chapter 6 - Stealing The Show
Chapter 7 - Incident In Aisle 13
Chapter 8 - A Star Is Born
Chapter 9 - Back On Top
Chapter 10 - Flashbulbs And Front Pages
Chapter 11 - High Society: Act 1
Chapter 12 - High Society: Act 2
Chapter 13 - Books and Blackmail
Chapter 14 - Trixie's Treasure Hunt
Chapter 15 - A Mare Possessed
Chapter 16 - Before The Storm
Chapter 17 - Absolute Power Corrupts? Absolutely!

Chapter 1 - Yesterday's Heroes

AUTHOR'S NOTE - Yes you've guessed it, this is another warning that this story won't make sense if you've not read the first two stories in the series. They're just as badly written as this one, so there'll be no nasty surprises waiting for you. Go check them out if you haven't already.

#1 - http://www.fimfiction.net/story/30120/The-Braggart-and-the-Bug

#2 - http://www.fimfiction.net/story/32554/Back-to-the-Swarm

Alternatively, don't. Just don't complain when this story makes no sense. :D Anyway, for those of you still with us, read on...

The hazy midday sunshine spread an inviting, warming light over the royal city of Canterlot as its residents bustled about their daily business. The air was cool and clear, with a pleasant breeze that carried with it the enticing smells of the affluent downtown areas of the city. The delicate fragrances of expensive teas and the tempting scent of Canterlot's finest restaurants mixed with the divine aromas of the high-end perfume stores to form an exquisite olfactory treat. Classical music could be heard emanating from many buildings, merging with the crisp, perfectly spoken upper-class accents of all the ponies around to complete a scene that massaged all of the senses with velvet hooves. It was the sort of day that made everypony present feel glad to be alive.

Yet amid this perfect scene, one pony in the city wasn't feeling quite so cheerful. From the balcony of a 3rd floor apartment in the city center itself, a familiar blue unicorn gazed down at the other citizens going about their everyday tasks. Her mane was disheveled, and her face was contorted into a fearsome scowl. Unable to stomach any more of what she was seeing, Trixie strode back into her apartment, slamming the balcony door shut as she did so. The noise caused Leech to awake with a start from his midday nap.

"Careful Trixzzie," warned Leech with his usual buzz, "Thizz izz Czelezztia'zz apartment, not ourzz! If Trixzzie break doorzz, we'll be in big, big trouble!"

Trixie stopped for a moment and glared at her friend, attempting to think of a reasonable, yet bitingly witty comeback. Alas, she knew Leech was right for once, and instead resumed cantering up and down the living room of the apartment.

"Why izz Trixzze szzo upzzet anyway?" ventured Leech, not entirely sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"Why am I upset? Just look at them all, Leech! Going around, doing all their everyday things, without a moment's thought for me - I mean - us. We saved all of them from becoming freaky mutant pony-bug thingies and yet now we barely turn anypony's head when we walk down the street!" Trixie said sulkily, her bottom lip curving into a pout.

"Well..." began Leech, cautiously, "It wazz two monthzz ago now."

"So what?" hissed Trixie. "It would have taken considerably more than two months to set things right if Aurora's plan had come to pass! Canterlot's debt to the Great and Powerful Trixie should be nothing less than eternal!"

"Even if we aren't heroezz anymore, we zzstill have awezzome apartment!" enthused Leech, attempting to lift Trixie's spirits and failing miserably in the process.

The apartment was indeed a grand one. It was one of several properties owned by the Canterlot royal family around the city. Typically it was used to put up guests of the royals when there were no spare rooms at the castle itself, or sometimes simply as a place for the princesses to relax - out of the public eye, but still easily reachable if they were needed. Open-plan and spacious, its white marble floor seemed to stretch forever in either direction, with a sitting area at one end and a kitchen/diner area at the other. Its side walls contained large leaded windows, giving the place a bright and airy feel. Along its back wall were silver-framed doors leading to a bedroom (Trixie used this. Leech slept in a basket by the couch), a bathroom and of course, the balcony. Sturdy stone pillars in each corner completed its stately appearance.

Alas, even such a fine dwelling as this could not improve Trixie's mood.

"Where did we go so wrong?" she complained, throwing her head back and applying a melodramatic hoof to her forehead.

At that moment, a newspaper was pushed through the mail slot in their front door, the clanging of the slot and the soft flump of the newspaper landing breaking Trixie's concentration on her perceived woes. Curious, she trotted over to the newly delivered document and levitated it to her eyes - it was the daily Canterlot Chronicle, the city's most-read newspaper. As she began to read, her face once again took on a deep, intense frown. Leech looked on, worried that Trixie's face would collapse in on itself if she screwed it up any harder!

"Bad newzz?" he asked quietly, before shutting his eyes in anticipation of the shouting that would almost certainly follow.

"Yes. Yes, you could say that," answered Trixie calmly, setting down the paper and trotting off to her bedroom.

Leech was surprised at Trixie's somewhat neutral reaction - she'd had something of a hair trigger temper over the last week or so. Intrigued, Leech cantered over to the dumped newspaper, and attempted to read the front page. His literacy had once again improved since arriving in the city, although he still preferred not to read if he could avoid it. His eyes scanned the paper in front of him, and after several minutes he made sense of the headline:

ELEMENTS OF HARMONY SAVE EQUESTRIA! YET AGAIN! FOURTH TIME IN AS MANY WEEKS!

"Why Trixie upzzet? Surely Equezztria being zzsaved izz good thing!" he buzzed to himself.

"Because we're yesterday's news, Leech!" said Trixie bitterly, her voice making Leech jump and scatter the newspaper all over the floor. Leech hadn't seen her exit the bedroom, and her sudden reappearance had startled him.

"Really?" asked Leech. "Leech doezz not remember zzseeing uzz in yezzterday'zz paper..."

"Exactly!" replied Trixie.

"How can Leech and Trixzzie be yezzterday'zz newzz if we not mentioned in yezzterday'zz paper?" he enquired, scratching a hoof to his head.

"It's a figure of speech!" Trixie began exasperatedly. "Those Elements save Equestria on such a frequent basis, they've taken all the glory. They're the big heroes now. They are the recipients of the love and admiration of Canterlot. They are getting the attention that is rightfully mi... um, ours!" she ranted.

Leech wasn't listening, however - his attention had been drawn to a bag of magic show props that Trixie had retrieved from the bedroom. He also noted that she'd put on her stage costume, consisting of her signature cloak and hat.

"What izz Trixzzie doing?" he asked. "Trixzzie hazz no showzz planned, hazzn't done showzz zzsince we arrive here!"

"Exactly!" replied Trixie with a firm nod. "That is something I aim to correct. If we can't be heroes anymore, we'll have to win back the hearts and minds of Canterlot the good old fashioned way - with our amazing stage routines!"

Leech wasn't entirely sure this would be feasible in such a high-standard city as Canterlot, but he was for anything which would make his friend happy. And less bad tempered. But mostly, he was concerned with Trixie's happiness.

Trixie left the apartment building, and trotted through the early evening sunset with her magic trick bag levitated behind her. There were still plenty of ponies in Canterlot's streets, making the most of the summer evening's residual warmth. Trixie's head hung low as she dodged and weaved her way through the crowds of ponies, many of whom were too self-absorbed to even watch where they were going.

There was once a time, not so long ago, that Trixie would be plagued with adoring fans every time she set hoof outside. Everypony who was anypony would greet her as she passed by, passing ponies would whisper to each other about her - Trixie often overheard the word "hero" mentioned. She could walk into any business in Canterlot, and immediately be offered wares or services free of charge. Trixie had adored every moment of it, and had hoped that her day in the limelight would never end.

Alas, she had discovered the hard way that Canterlot culture was a fickle and rapidly-shifting one. Everything was transient and nothing was permanent. Clothes came into fashion one week, and were out the next. Celebrities were made and cast aside every day. The so-called "in" crowd changed their preferred eateries and hang-outs with alarming frequency, taking their entourage of admirers and hangers-on with them wherever they went.

And, as inconceivable as it had once seemed to Trixie, Canterlot dealt with its heroes just as it did everything else - they could be dropped in an instant if something else came along. Some ponies did remember Trixie and Leech, and did give them a respectful nod or a quick greeting as they passed by. But it wasn't a patch on what Trixie had become used to. A determined smile appeared on her face as she raised her head.

"They don't see me now, but their eyes will all be on me soon enough!" she thought.

With this, she approached her destination - Le Cheval Merde, one of the more prestigious of Canterlot's cabaret bars. A large sign near the entrance advertised that they were looking for acts, in particular magicians. Trixie's cocky smile became even wider.

"This will be too easy!" she grinned, and with a deep breath she entered the bar.

Making her way through the heaving crowds, Trixie began to search for the manager's office so that she could impress him with what would doubtless be the finest assortment of tricks he had ever witnessed. He would immediately offer her a million-bit contract, and she would once again be the darling of Canterlot. As she searched, she passed through one of the bar's several performance rooms. A magic act was just beginning on the stage - Trixie decided that it may be amusing to see what she was up against. She quickly took a table near the front of the stage so she could get a good look at whatever feeble parlor tricks this so-called magician had up his hat...

Fifteen minutes had passed, and Trixie had been unable to take her eyes off the tricks being performed on stage. They were some of the most technically difficult and spectacular feats of magic she had ever witnessed! Self-transmogrification, self-levitation (which was much harder than it sounded), precise teleportation and even a time travel routine were just some of the incredible things the magician had done.

As one may expect, the best trick had been saved for last. The gray unicorn on stage removed his black velvet top hat to reveal his deep raspberry-colored mane. Closing his eyes in concentration, blob-like clusters of mysterious energies of various hues began to gather around his horn. His concentration deepened as the magical streaks of color began to spin in an ever-enlarging vortex around his head. Soon they were spinning intensely, becoming a glowing halo-like band around the stallion's entire body.

Then without warning, one streak of color shot upwards, bursting into a magnificent rainbow-colored shower of light. One by one, the others followed suit, creating a breathtaking indoor firework display, composed entirely of magic energy. As the magician took a bow, riotous hoof stomping accompanied his departure from the stage. The audience were amazed!

Trixie on the other hoof, was horrified. She couldn't compete with this! Her plan to get back into Canterlot's collective eye was in ruins - she sulkily hung her head again as he heart began to sink. As she shifted her gaze upwards to give the departing magician one last angry glare however, something bizarre happened. Trixie's horn very briefly flashed green, and a bright green flash appeared in her vision, leaving an faint image of the magician briefly burned into her retinas.

She blinked profusely to get rid of both the image and the spots she was seeing before her eyes, as if she'd been staring at a high-powered light. With a few blinks, these passed, and Trixie decided it would be best if she just went home. She couldn't hold a candle to anything she'd just witnessed, and figured that any attempt to impress the bar's management would be embarrassing at best. However, as she turned to head for the exit, a large Earth pony stallion stood behind her. His white fur looked bright yellow in the glow of the stage lights, but his jet-black mane and matching black suit jacket retained their normal appearance. He adjusted a small pair of spectacles upon the bridge of his snout and addressed Trixie.

"Judging by your attire, you are here for the magic act auditions, yes?" he said, in a snobbish, nasal tone. "I do hope so, since fancy dress is against our dress code."

Trixie didn't know how to respond - she certainly didn't want to be seen committing such an etiquette faux-pas in front of a gathered crowd of Canterlot's must-know ponies! Attempting to gather her thoughts, she stammered out a reply.

"Oh y-yes, of c-course! Magic tryouts! Yes, wh-why else would I be here dressed like this? I'd be a very silly filly to come to a bar dressed like this if it wasn't for magic tryouts!" she spluttered, a nervous smile doing nothing to detract attention from the bullets of sweat on her brow.

"Indeed," replied the stallion, "Allow me to introduce myself - I am Class Act, the owner of this venue. Please step into my office, and we can begin your audition."

Without another word, Class Act turned on his hooves and briskly trotted towards a room marked 'Private'. Trixie stumbled several paces behind, her mind a confused mess as she attempted to figure out what to do. She'd never suffered from stage fright before - it was certainly an experience she thought she'd never encounter!

Ten minutes later, Trixie nervously fumbled through her card tricks for the third time as Class Act stood behind his desk, looking distinctly unimpressed. Trixie's own magic repertoire was still fairly limited - without her special effects and Leech's assistance, she didn't have much material to work with. Her teleportation still wasn't working as it should, and she'd ended up teleporting herself to the top of a nearby set of shelves. Her chainsaw juggling act fell flat after she realized she'd only packed one chainsaw, and her other tricks were simple sleights of hoof rather than genuine magic. Under her breath she cursed herself for not bringing Leech with her - ironically, she had been afraid he would botch her big chance. As it turned out, Trixie was doing a fine job of messing it up for herself!

"Miss Lulamoon," interrupted a bored-sounding Class Act, "Is there really any point to continuing this act? I think we both know that such tricks are not of the caliber expected of my venue's performers. Please, don't waste any more of either of our time."

"Wait!" cried Trixie desperately, "Please, let me do one more trick!"

Class act sighed and looked at his pocket-watch.

"Fine," he said half-heartedly, "But do make it quick. I have other acts to evaluate."

Trixie's mind raced as she attempted to think of a spectacular finisher. It was now or never - if she failed this audition, her reputation as a magician would be ruined throughout Canterlot. She would never be the center of the populace's attention again. Failure was not an option, and yet it seemed an inevitability as every avenue Trixie's thoughts followed turned out to be a dead end. Just as she was about to give up and burst into tears, the blinding green flash once again appeared in her vision, causing her to jump back a little. The image of the magician from earlier once again briefly appeared before her eyes, and an overwhelming feeling of calm and confidence washed over her, although Trixie didn't understand why.

Her mind seemingly acting of its own accord, her horn glowed and slowly began to summon colored orbs of light from thin air, just as the magician on the stage had done. She began to spin the orbs around her head, until they became an intense, streaky halo of brightly glowing magic energies, again just as the magician had just minutes previously. Class Act's eyes widened and his mouth began to open as the halo glowed brighter and even more intense than the stage magician had conjured.

Trixie's new confidence began to falter as she struggled to control the dozens of spinning orbs, and before she knew what had happened, she released all of them at once. They shot upwards and simultaneously detonated into a sparkling spectral blur of rainbow colors, more spectacular but shorter-lived than the display the stage magician had performed.

A tense silence followed, as Trixie buried her face in a front hoof, chiding herself for losing control of the orbs too soon. She had no idea how she'd even managed to summon them in the first place, not that it mattered - rejection was a certainty. However, when Trixie removed her hoof from her eyes, she saw that Class Act was smiling broadly. As he retrieved his glasses from the floor and balanced them back on the end of his snout, he approached Trixie.

"That was the most stunning rendition of the classic Prismatic Orb Shower routine that I have ever witnessed! And I loved the comedy act at the beginning, you really had me going. I genuinely thought you were a terrible magician!" he laughed.

Trixie was too shell-shocked to be offended by Class Act's cruel dismissal of her usual routine.

"So does this mean...?" she asked nervously.

"Absolutely." beamed Class Act. "Trixie Lulamoon, you are hired! You'll have a regular evening slot as of this time next week."

Trixie's mouth couldn't help but bend upwards into a jaw-aching grin. This was it! Soon she and Leech would be back in the spotlight, and living the high life once again! Excitement tingled through her whole body as her mind contemplated the limitless possibilities that now lay before her. She turned to Class Act, who was preparing her contract.

"That's not all I can do, you know," she said grandly, "I have another routines which I do with my assista-"

"And I must say Trixie, I'm jolly pleased you seem to have stopped palling around with that beastly changeling creature." interrupted Class Act. "I remember him from when you first arrived here, frightful little monsters they are. I'll bet with powers like yours, you did most of the heroics when you saved Canterlot, eh? Shifty things, changelings, never know what they're thinking. Who knows what sort of plan his so-called heroism is a part of? I expected to have seen him tagging along with you tonight, but am most pleased that he is not."

Trixie's excitement suddenly dropped several levels upon hearing her friend spoken of in such a way. Had this not been such a prestigious venue, Trixie would have walked away then and there. Instead she looked awkwardly at the floor and shuffled a hoof.

"Now then," continued Class Act, "Here is the contract. Did I hear you say something about needing an assistant? Well, the contract stipulates solo acts for the first few weeks, but after that we can get you an assistant. As long as it's not that ridiculous changeling chappie of course!" he said with a snooty snigger.

Trixie looked down at the parchment before her, and gripped the quill shakily in her magic. Fighting her heart's urge to walk away for the sake of her friend, she signed the document and passed it back to Class Act. She still felt excited at the idea of performing on the Canterlot circuit, but couldn't help but feel a heavy tinge of guilt among it all. She thanked Class Act for his time, and headed for home. A thousand questions without answers rattled around inside her mind, but one question rattled louder than the rest:

What was she going to tell Leech?

Chapter 2 - Changeling For Hire

Leech dozed happily on the couch waiting for Trixie to return, a nearby lantern's fading light shining upon his glossy black chitin. His legs occasionally twitched and kicked as he lay flat on his back, dreaming of Trixie and himself performing their shows on stage once more. City life had been a very different experience for the little changeling, and whilst he enjoyed it for the most part he couldn't help but long to be out on the open road again. For all the new and exciting opportunities Canterlot presented, Leech found life a little monotonous - every day seemed to be the same routine, much as it was back in the hive. He secretly yearned for the days where every day was a new adventure, and neither he nor Trixie knew what awaited them around the next corner.

His dreams and semi-sleeping musings were interrupted by the sound of the apartment door opening. Leech immediately jumped to his hooves as a soggy Trixie made her way into the room - it seemed as though the weather had changed during Trixie's walk home! Despite her sodden hat and cloak clinging to her equally deluged fur, Trixie seemed to be in good spirits. Noting this, Leech bounded up to her, a grin of anticipation spread across his face.

"How did Trixzzie do? Did Trixzze blow bar poniezz away with amazing magiczz?" he asked.

Trixie beamed back at him.

"Was there any other possible outcome?" she laughed. "All who witness the Great and Powerful Trixie's shows are immediately and forever entranced!"

"Huzzzzzah!" buzzed Leech. "Zzso, when do Trixzzie and Leech zzstart doing showzz again?" he asked, eagerly.

Trixie winced involuntarily, but just about managed to maintain her cheerful demeanor. Her eyes darted around as she struggled to pick between one of the several excuses she had concocted during her somewhat drizzly trip home. She couldn't simply tell Leech that the bar owner was a narrow-minded snob who had a grudge against changelings - Leech had enough problems fitting in with Canterlot society, without knocking his confidence any further. Quickly settling upon a reason, she answered her friend's question.

"Well... you see.... thing about that is...." Trixie began unsteadily, a tight knot forming in her stomach, "The bar manager knows about you and thinks your talents would be wasted being a mere assistant." she lied, unconvincingly.

Incredibly, the gullible Leech seemed to take the bait... more or less.

"Really? It izz nice of him to zzsay zzo but... Leech likezz being azzizztant!" he protested. "It none of manager'zz buzzinezz what Leech doezz!"

"W-well," stammered Trixie, not expecting such a response, "the stage is also very small. Only big enough for one performer, you'd fall off if we both tried to stand on there!"

Trixie looked down at Leech as he seemed to mentally chew upon everything she'd said. Trixie also immediately contemplated her own words. A small stage? What an absolutely ridiculously feeble excuse! Nopony would believe that, not even Leech! She gulped heavily and forced a huge smile, and hoped to Celestia that he'd somehow be satisfied enough to back down. On this occasion, her prayers were seemingly answered.

"Well, Leech cannot zztand where there izz no room, Leech zzsuppozzezz!" he sighed defeatedly.

His face dropped for just a few seconds, then immediately burst back into a smile as an all-too-rare thought entered his head.

"Zzso if Leech izz not to be an azzizztant, what izz Leech to do?" he asked Trixie. "Doezz thizz mean Leech can get different job?"

Trixie tapped a contemplative hoof to her chin. Her own savings were dwindling due to high cost of living in Canterlot (even without rent), and the initial contract with the bar didn't pay quite as well as she'd hoped. This could be a way for Leech to integrate with the local populace, and provide a useful extra income for them. On the other hoof, what exactly could Leech do? She decided that she had better get a more in-depth grasp of the situation before encouraging Leech in either direction.

"What jobs would you like to do, Leech?" she asked in a gentle, almost motherly tone, sitting down next to Leech. If nothing else, she couldn't fault his enthusiasm and willingness to help.

"Leech izz not sure, Leech hazz only ever done hive maintenanzze and azzizting Trixzzie!" Leech replied, looking a little lost. "Not much demand for thozze thingzz in Canterlot!"

Quickly glancing around the room, Trixie noticed the newspaper still strewn across the floor where Leech had dropped it earlier. After a couple of seconds' annoyance that he hadn't bothered to pick it up, she cast her feelings aside and levitated the scattered sheets of paper towards where the two friends sat. Holding them in front of her face, she looked each sheet over carefully before dropping it back onto the floor.

At last, she found what she had been looking for - the advertisements page. Placing the rest of the paper to one side, she expertly maneuvered the single page she still held to a position where she could read it properly. After scanning over a few useless want-ads, she happened upon a section labelled "Positions Vacant". To her delight, there seemed to be a good range of possible careers on offer.

"Izz there any openingzz for handyponiezz?" asked Leech, hopefully. "Pony houzze fixing probably not that different to fixing hivezz!"

As it happened, there were openings for builders, carpenters and groundsponies. However, Trixie remembered Leech's appalling track record in anything maintenance related - he wasn't ranked 1017 out of a hive of 842 for nothing, after all! For the safety of Canterlot, Trixie wisely told Leech that there was absolutely nothing available in that particular sector.

Trixie's attention was then caught by a small advertisement at the bottom of the page.

"How about foalsitting?" Trxie suggested, pointing a hoof to a paragraph stating that staff were needed at one of the city's day nurseries.

Leech shuddered.

"No thankzz!" he gasped, shaking his head vigorously. "Leech did brief zzervice in hive hatchery onzze, had to look after two hatchlingzz. Leech forgetzz their hive numberzz, but they called themzzelvezz 'Alter' and 'Shifter'..."

"Oh, really?" responded Trixie, surprised. "What happened?"

"Leech won't go into detailzz, but after zzpending a day with them, Leech was picking sugar zzsprinklezz from under hizz carapace for dayzz after!" groaned Leech, his carapace becoming itchy at the very thought. "Leech wazz glad when their zzsizzter collected them from hatchery! Leech never work with young creaturezz again!"

"A shame," Trixie commented, "the foals here loved you when you first arrived. They thought the holes in your legs were funny!"

Hours passed, as Trixie and Leech slowly made their way through the entire page, each advertisement proving unsuitable for one reason or another - if it wasn't Leech's natural lack of ability, it was because Leech didn't like the line of work or because the business in question would never knowingly employ a changeling. Leech had mooted the idea of morphing into a pony for the purposes of work, but decided the strain of a long-term dual identity wasn't worth the hassle. Besides, Celestia had promised him upon moving to Canterlot that he wouldn't need to disguise himself in public.

Exhausted, both friends slumped back on the couch.

"Well, that idea wazz a buzzt!" complained Leech, through a stifled yawn.

"Well, I wouldn't call it a bust exactly, more of a -" Trixie began, stopping mid sentence upon seeing something interesting on another of the newspaper's strewn pages.

Jumping down from the couch, she strolled over to the page and began to read. Her eyes strained to see the letters as the lanterns let out their final, fuel-starved gasps of luminance in the shadows of midnight. When she had finished however, the bright beam she wore on her face could have lit up half of Equestria.

"Leech, I think you should see this - it could be perfect!" she exclaimed, before turning around to see Leech already sound asleep, having slumped off the couch and landed neatly in his basket without even waking up.

"Never mind," she whispered with a smile, "I'll make the arrangements tomorrow morning."

With this, and a hearty yawn, she headed to bed for what would be a troubled sleep - more of her unanswered questions played on her mind. For instance, what was the green flash her horn kept producing? Why did it seem so familiar? And just how the hay had she managed to perform a trick she'd never done before almost perfectly just by watching somepony else do it?

The uneasy night's rest did little to resolve Trixie's queries, and she was equally as confused upon waking the next morning. Putting her own confusion to the back of her mind for the time being, she hurriedly scarfed down an apple smoothie for breakfast before brushing her teeth and heading out of the apartment. She had to hurry - the pony she wanted to speak to started work early and often finished late. If she didn't catch him during breakfast, she wouldn't get another chance until tomorrow!

Leech of course saw none of this, as he continued to contentedly doze in his basket, drowsing comfortably as a beam of the dawn's sunlight shone directly onto him with a wonderful warming sensation.

Some time later, Leech groggily rose from his slumber, stretching each leg in turn and letting out a colossal yawn. He slowly scratched his sides with his hind legs before heading out onto the balcony for breakfast. As it turned out, he was in luck this morning. A young couple sat on a bench near to the apartment complex, nuzzling each other tenderly and affectionately. Leech simply stood with his head over the balcony railings, siphoning some of the sweet waves of purest love emanating from the two lovebirds beneath him. After taking enough to fill him up, but not enough to adversely affect the blossoming relationship playing out below, Leech turned and headed back inside, contentedly licking his mandibles.

"Good breakfast?" asked Trixie, who had returned whilst Leech was out on the balcony.

"Blaaagh!" cried Leech, who again hadn't heard Trixie come through the floor. They really had to stop meeting like this!

"Sorry," said Trixie apologetically, "But I've just been into town, and I've gotten you a job!"

"Really?" said Leech, curiously. "What job did Trixzzie get for Leech?"

Trixie smiled her biggest smile, and held up a page of yesterday's newspaper in her magic. It was the back cover, rather than the advertisements page that they had so uselessly studied the previous evening. Along the bottom of the page was a banner advertisement for the newspaper itself. In large letters, it proclaimed:

"CANTERLOT CHRONICLE - Journalists and reporters wanted! All experience levels considered. Apply in person at the Chronicle offices on Canterlot's high street."

"Zzsounds interezzting..." Leech conceded, "But Leech cannot write" How can Leech work for newzzpaper when Leech cannot write?"

"I've managed to get you a position as a reporter," explained Trixie, "All you'll need to do is find news stories, take pictures of them, and remember what happened long enough for the journalists to type it up later on. Normally reporters make notes as well, but your new employer has agreed to make an exception for you. He says it's the least he can do for you."

"Do for me? Who izz new employer?" asked Leech, unable to think of anypony he'd done favors for recently.

"Do you remember Snap Happy?" replied Trixie, "He's head journalist at the Chronicle, and the pony you'll be working under. He's agreed to give you a trial because of what we did for him before."

"Oh yezz, Leech rememberzz him from hive. We zzsaved him from life azz falzze changeling!" said Leech, recalling the events that led to their being in Canterlot in the first place.

"Yes indeed. He reckons your disguising powers could be very useful for doing undercover investigative work!" Trixie explained. "He wants to see you in about an hour's time, do you know where the offices are?"

"Leech thinkzz zzso!" replied the little changeling enthusiastically. He'd been past the offices enough times when out and about in Canterlot, and was fairly certain he knew his way there from the apartment complex.

Around thirty minutes later, Leech figured that he'd better get going - he wanted to be early and make a good first impression! Bidding Trixie farewell for the day, he revved his wings and enthusiastically launched himself off the balcony, falling for a short distance before settling into a steady flight towards the Canterlot Chronicle building.

Trixie stood upon the balcony, waving a front hoof at her unique friend until he disappeared into Canterlot's sprawl of exquisite architecture. Heading back into the apartment and closing the doors behind her, her smile faded as her face turned to an expression of intensive concentration and introspect.

She had the most vital show of her life to prepare for, and a mysterious green glow to investigate...

Author's Note

Alter and Shifter are just a little shoutout to Grazehunter's story "Changelings Play". As usual, I'm not stealing characters or trying to cross anything over, just a little cameo homage to a writer whose stuff I like. :D

Chapter 3 - Read All About It

Leech gently lowered his altitude as he approached Canterlot's main street, his wings buzzing slower and slower until he gracefully ceased his flight. Unfortunately he'd stopped flapping his wings slightly too early, and somewhat ungracefully plummeted the last 10 feet or so.

Picking himself up and dusting himself off, all the while cursing himself for not practicing his landings more, Leech set off on hoof to complete the rest of his journey. The main street itself had bunting and flags suspended at various points above it as far as the eye could see, and so flying the last hundred or so yards to the Chronicle offices would have been hazardous at best.

As he trotted down the street, past the trendy al fresco bistro cafes and luxury clothing stores, the ponies all around stared at him. Or at least, some of them did - others turned their noses away in disgust, or leaned in to whisper to their friends, all the while keeping one eye on the oblivious changeling who merrily strolled past.

"I don't trust him one bit!" came a whisper from a table of a nearby bistro.

"Me neither, what a frightful beast!" came a muted reply from an unknown mare.

"What on Equestria persuaded the princesses to let him stay?" came another hushed comment, this time from a different group.

"I fear no creature... but that thing... it scares me." quietly added a deep voice from the crowds.

Leech didn't seem to notice, however - he continued excitedly down the street, bidding good morning to anypony who would listen. The majority ignored him, although some of the more friendly of Canterlot's residents returned the greeting politely. It wasn't clear whether Leech didn't hear the jibes aimed at him when he went out in public, or whether he'd simply become accustomed to them - for all of Canterlot's fast moving culture, it seemed that old prejudices held fast amid the torrent of constant change. Although the locals had tolerated Leech immediately after his and Trixie's arrival, the scars left in Canterlot's collective mindset by the changeling siege of the royal wedding ran deep. Public opinion soon began to go against Leech, although nopony would be so bold as to openly decry Celestia's judgement in letting him stay.

His enthusiasm and anticipation distinctly undiminished, Leech trotted to the entrance to a broad, four story building between two jewellery stores at the far end of the main street. Its painted brickwork gleamed white in the morning sun, glowing even brighter than its golden-yellow painted doorframe and windowsills. A meticulously polished brass plaque to the left to the heavy, wooden, burgundy-painted front door identified it as the head office of the Canterlot Chronicle.

Leech raised his hoof to knock upon the door, when to his surprise it opened - Snap Happy had seen him coming. Alas, Leech noticed the opening door too late to stop his would-be door-knocking hoof impacting with Snap Happy's snout.

"Ack!" cried the off-white pegasus, stumbling back a few steps.

Leech was horrified!

"Oh my Zzcelezztia! Leech izz zzsorry for bopping new bozz on Leech'zz firzzt day! Pleazze forgive Leech!" he buzzed frantically, a pleading hoof reaching out towards the dazed head journalist.

Hastily gathering his bearings, Snap Happy stepped forward again and greeted Leech warmly.

"Think nothing of it, kiddo!" he said brightly with a smile, still rubbing his nose with a hoof. "Accidents happen, after all! Come on in, and I'll show you around!"

His cheeks still aflame with embarrassment, Leech nonetheless gingerly entered the office, trailing several steps behind Snap Happy.

After Leech had been given a guided tour around the entire building, taking in everything from the production offices to the printing press, he and Snap Happy stood together in the typists' room. All around them, various pony journalists tapped away at typewriters, all of them totally focused upon their task. Every now and then, a reporter would enter and drop a page of notes upon the desk of one of the journalists before heading off to the dark room to develop the pictures they'd taken with their cameras.

Leech had never seen a group of ponies so contented with their work before - so passionate were the ponies with their chosen vocation, Leech was even able to absorb a small amount of the love they had for their jobs! Job satisfaction was a type of love that Leech had never sampled before - it had a unique flavor, not as sweet as 'normal' love, but still quite tasty. Leech quietly smacked his mandibles in satisfaction before turning to Snap Happy, who had been rooting around a nearby closet.

He held in his hooves two items - the first was a large, boxy, flash-bulb type film camera with a broad carrying strap, which he placed around Leech's neck. Secondly, he took a slightly tatty brown fedora hat, with a small white card with the word "PRESS" in bold black lettering printed on it tucked into the hat's chestnut-colored band. The hat was designed for a unicorn, and had a gap in the front of the brim - as such, it fit perfectly around Leech's horn when Snap Happy placed it upon his head.

"Well, Leech," said Snap Happy, stepping back to admire his work, "You certainly look the part, with your camera and your cliche hat! Now, let's see what you can do - for today's assignment, I want you to go out there and get me a real scoop."

"A zzscoop?" asked Leech, thoughtfully.

"Yep, this publication thrives on getting scoops as often as possible! Let's see if you can find me one." clarified Snap Happy.

"Zzsir, yezz zzsir!" Leech said, with a salute that knocked his hat over to one side of his head.

Too excited to bother fixing it, Leech dashed out of the typists' room, down two flights of stairs and back outside into Canterlot, his hooves barely touching the ground. Snap Happy simply gave a bemused sigh, rubbed a hoof through his short, turquoise mane and wondered what he'd let himself in for...

Excitedly strutting back down the main street, Leech was having the time of his life, the door knocking incident having been long forgotten. He attracted the same filthy looks and whispered insults as before, but was still far too happy to take heed.

"Leech not only getzz new job, but getzz eazzy azzignment, and better zzstill, an awezzome hat!" he chattered to himself.

He strode on confidently - he knew exactly where he could get just what Snap Happy wanted, and knew the way there almost by instinct, being a frequent visitor to the place himself.

As he made his way down the Canterlot cobbles however, Leech noticed a commotion at a nearby clothing store. A crowd of ponies hurtled out of the door, screaming at the top of their lungs, with shredded remains of what appeared to be very expensive suits and dresses hanging from their bodies. Behind them, a gray earth pony wearing violet-tinted glasses ran out, with what had been an exquisitely styled lighter gray mane. Now, amidst the curls of his perfectly-coiffured locks, several small, round creatures nestled, some of them chewing at strands of the distressed pony's hair.

"My beautiful boutique!" wailed Hoity Toity, swatting at the creatures in his mane. "It's been overrun with these... ugh... parasprites! And it looks as if they've got very expensive tastes!"

Leech could see scores of the multicolored winged blobs through the boutique's windows, devastating any clothing item that they came across. His thoughts immediately turned to his beloved new head-wear.

"When parazzpritezz finished in zztore, parazzpsitezz might eat Leech'zz new hat!" he gasped. Clearly, this was a situation of some gravity.

Wasting no time, Leech turned on his hooves and began to run the back way he had come - he knew a different route to the place he wanted to go to anyway. It would take a little longer, but it didn't matter. Nothing was worth risking his prized hat for! He raced right down to the far end of the main street, back past the Chronicle offices, and disappeared down an alleyway.

After cantering a short distance through the relative darkness of the shadowy alleyway, Leech emerged into the pleasant green scenery of Canterlot's central park. Seemingly a world away from the main street that was still relatively close by, pathways of cream-hued gravel snaked their way around breathtaking flowerbeds and immaculately kept lawns, with benches beside them every few yards. All around, ponies sat on benches and made polite conversation with one another, whilst others admired the flowers and scenery around them. As Leech made his way towards his intended destination, he noticed a pony he recognized sitting on a bench next to a large fountain in the very center of the park.

Canterlot celebrity and noblestallion Fancy Pants sat upon the bench, with a light green pegasus mare for company. He gently whispered pleasantries into her ear, before giving it a playful nibble. The pegasus mare giggled as she flicked a strand of her black mane from her face, and the two engaged in a passionate kiss. As Leech walked past, he couldn't help but sample some of the love they gave off. He instinctively coughed and retched - this love wasn't sweet at all! It tasted bitter and made Leech feel slightly nauseous. The sound of Leech's hacking and gagging attracted both of the embraced ponies' attention, causing them to disengage from each other and look at Leech in alarm.

"It's that changeling!" whispered the mare to Fancy Pants, panic in her voice, "And look! He's joined the press! What if he's taken photos of us!"

Fancy Pants retained the usual urbane, cool demeanor he was renowned for, although inside he was quite worried. He certainly didn't want his unicorn wife, Fleur, to find out about this!

"Don't worry my dear, I'll ensure none of this sordid business reaches anyone it should not. I'll wager that he doesn't even know who I am!" he said, with partially-forced confidence.

Getting up from the bench, he left his quivering partner for the moment and casually approached Leech.

"Hello, young colt!" he said politely. "Do you know who I am?"

Leech nodded.

"You are Fanzzy Pantzz, national zzcelebrity!" he said, looking up at Fancy Pants with a proud smile.

Fancy Pants' face began to flush, and his mask of confidence slipped as his brow involuntarily furrowed, and he began looking around as if trying to find a clue as to what to do next. Noticing a nearby pony collecting flowers, inspiration struck and he quickly regained his composure.

"That's right, my little friend." he continued with a smile. "But I'm not just a celebrity - in my spare time, I collect things. I have many exquisite collections of various items - and at the moment, I'm collecting camera film. I've got an extensive collection back at my mansion, and I need just one more type to complete it. And as luck would have it, the type I need is the same type as your camera uses! Would you be interested in selling it to me?"

With this, Fancy Pants levitated a wallet from his jacket pocket, and pulled out several pieces of paper. Leech's jaw dropped.

"Here," said Fancy Pants, "is one hundred bits. All you need to do is open your camera and give the film to me, and it's yours!"

"Zzsold!" replied Leech, gleefully removing the film from his camera and passing it to a relieved-looking Fancy Pants. In return, Fancy Pants rolled up the five twenty-bit bills and gently pushed them into one of Leech's foreleg holes.

"A pleasure doing business with you!" called Fancy Pants, as Leech continued on his way.

"What a zzsucker!" laughed Leech to himself as he exited the Canterlot central park with his now-filmless camera dangling uselessly against his chest. "That film only cozztzz five bitzz a roll!"

Presently, Leech approached his intended destination - Pony Joe's Donut Shoppe and Cafe. He stopped at the door and looked up at the building. Removing his newly-found wealth from his foreleg, he gave an approving nod and strolled inside.

"Zzsnap Happy will be zzso pleazzed with Leech, maybe give Leech promotion!" he buzzed.

Back at the Canterlot Chronicle office, Snap Happy looked at the clock. The evening edition was due to go to press in 45 minutes, and they still didn't have a big scoop! He nervously paced up and down the production office, wondering where Leech could have possibly gotten to. His worrying was disrupted when he heard the front door bang shut and echo throughout the building's stairwell.

"Leech izz baaaack!" called Leech from the foot of the stairs.

"Excellent!" called Snap Happy from inside the office. "Did you find me a scoop?"

"Leech did better than that, Leech found you two hundred zzscoopzz!" came the response.

Snap Happy nearly collapsed in surprise. Two hundred scoops! That could keep the Chronicle in business for months, if not years! Could he have inadvertently stumbled upon the single greatest reporter that Canterlot had ever known? His surprise soon turned to shock as Leech entered the office...

... bringing with him the most gigantic ice cream sundae that Snap Happy had ever seen, two hundred light green scoops placed in a comically oversized wafer cone. Leech carefully maneuvered the colossal dessert into the office and placed the cone upon Snap Happy's desk, propping it up at either side with a typewriter and a book.

"Ta-daaaa!" said Leech proudly.

Snap Happy said nothing. He simply stared at the teetering treat with wide eyes, tiny pupils and an involuntary twitch in his left eyelid.

"Zzsnap Happy would not believe trouble Leech had to go through to get thizz!" he said.

"Oh... and what trouble would that be?" asked Snap Happy somewhat distantly, still unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

"Welllll...," began Leech, "Firzzt of all, Leech zzseezz fancy clothing zzstore get eaten up by parazzpritezz! Purple shadezz pony didn't look happy!"

Snap Happy suddenly jolted back into reality upon hearing this.

"What?! You mean Hoity Toity's boutique's been attacked by parasprites? Leech, did you get any pictures of this?" he asked urgently.

"Oh no, of courzze not. Don't worry zzsir, Leech wazzn't zzsilly enough to hang around there! Leech might have lozzt hizz hat!" Leech replied.

Snap Happy buried his face in his front hooves. This was almost too much to take!

"Zzso anyway, Leech hazz to go long way around to Pony Joe'zz, zzso Leech goezz though the park. Then Leech meetzz Fancy Pantzz, who offered Leech lotzz of money for hizz camera film!" continued Leech.

"Why did he do that?" asked a perplexed Snap Happy.

"He zzsaid he collectzz film!" replied Leech. "He zzseemed very keen, he even zzstopped kizzing hizz pegazzuzz wife to talk to Leech!"

"Pegasus wife? But Fancy Pants is married to a unic...." Snap Happy's voice trailed off as his eyes went wide again. "Leech. Please. Tell. Me. You. Got. Pictures."

"Why would Leech want picturezz of zzsome posh pony with wife? Fancy Pantzz gave Leech a hundred bitzz for hizz film - that'zz how Leech wazz able to get you zzso many zzscoopszz! Leech knew Pony Joe'zz zzstarted zzselling ice cream lazzt month, one bit for two zzscoopzz!" he said proudly.

Snap Happy said nothing, but merely wandered over to his desk and pulled out a small bottle labelled 'DeGroot's rum 1680'. He added a dash of its contents to his usual cup of coffee before swallowing the entire steaming beverage down in a single gulp.

"The story of the month and the scandal of the year, all in one day... and all he got was ice cream..." he sobbed to himself under his breath, before pouring himself another rum-infused coffee and downing it in one gulp again.

He turned back to the still-grinning Leech. He knew the changeling had much to learn, and ultimately meant well - plus, he'd helped save Snap Happy's life, so he couldn't possibly bring himself to be angry with Leech.

"Well, a good first day's work my friend!" he said with a forced smile and a quivering voice. "I'll sort a new film for your camera in the morning - meanwhile, go home and get a good night's rest!"

"Yezz zzsir!" said Leech firmly, saluting with his other forehoof and finally knocking his hat straight again. With this, Leech trotted away down the stairs and exited the building, the front door's slam again reverberating through the stairwell.

Snap Happy let out a long, despairing sigh. He wondered what in Equestria he'd let himself in for - the next few weeks were certainly going to be interesting to say the least! Noticing the giant ice cream still on his desk, and beginning to melt under the warmth of the office's lanterns, he gave the dessert a probing sniff followed by a curious lick. His frown soon faded and gave way to a broad, contented smile.

"Mmmm.... pistachio!"

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!"

Chapter 5 - A Night At The Cabaret

Trixie and Leech hastily made their way through the crowds of ponies in the streets of Canterlot, Trixie wearing a solidly-fixed expression of intent and focus, her eyes staring and unblinking. Her movement was brisk, with Leech having to break into a slow gallop in order to keep pace with her.

"Why izz Trixzzie moving zzso fazzt?" complained Leech, his buzzing voice at odds with the tangerine-colored stallion he had disguised himself as.

"I must get to the cabaret before the evening's performance starts, I want to see as much of it as possible!" answered Trixie flatly, her attention mostly taken up with navigating through the crowds.

"Why izz cabaret zzso important? And why doezz Leech have to go in dizzguizze?" asked Leech, calling to Trixie from several paces behind.

"Well," she began, slowing down and turning her attention more towards her friend, "I want to see if I can copy any of the talents we see at the cabaret. As for your disguise, well... um... several of the bar staff are allergic to the chitin that your exoskeleton is made from. Yes, that'll do." she finished hesitantly.

Trixie clenched her eyelids as a wave of guilt washed over her - she didn't like lying to Leech, but had to in order to protect his feelings. Mercifully, the ruse seemed to satisfy Leech, and he asked no further questions on the subject during their journey.

After a short journey, made even shorter by Trixie's maniacally fast trotting speed, the two ponies approached the entrance to Le Cheval Merde. Trixie noted with a smug grin that the sign asking for cabaret acts had been painted over with red letters that read 'position filled'. Her smugness was soon over, however, as she noticed another sign nearby which specified a 'smart' dress code. She looked over to Leech.

"Oh no!" she cried, "You aren't dressed smartly enough to get past those doorponies! I'll be OK with my magnificent cape, but you aren't wearing anything!"

"But Leech doezzn't even own any clothezz!" Leech protested.

Trixie's mind raced. The show started in less than two minutes, so there was no time to go to a store and get Leech some classy clothing. Besides, most of the stores were closed by this time, it was only dining and entertainment venues that were open during the evening and night. A plan soon clawed its way out from the tangled mess of Trixie's scrambled thoughts - it was a long shot, but it just might work.

Trixie deftly used her magic to swipe a hair clip from a nearby pony's tail - so smooth and quick was the process, the Earth mare didn't even notice her once-immaculately styled tail fall out of shape. Manipulating the small metal wire she held in her magical grasp, Trixie soon bent the hair clip into a circle shape, twisting the ends together to complete the ring. She then placed the newly-formed wiry hoop onto Leech's face, resting on his right cheek and encircling his eye.

"There!" she said brightly to the confused Leech. "A monocle makes anypony look classy, no matter the rest of their get-up!"

"Izz Trixzzie sure?" enquired Leech, giving a nervous glance to the two large, white Stallions standing at either side of the door.

By the look of them, they were Royal Guard ponies working second jobs during their off-duty time - they certainly didn't look the type that Leech wanted to cross!

Trixie didn't answer, instead resuming her fast-paced trot towards the entrance to the bar, Leech following behind, his nervousness increasing with each step he took to the stony-faced doorponies. Trixie trotted through the door with no problems, with one of the doorponies even giving her an admiring nod. However, as Leech approached, he was stopped by a large, white foreleg that was thrust out in front of him.

"Just a moment, sir." said the doorpony, gruffly.

"Eep!" squeaked Leech quietly, as he stared into the eyes of the stallion that looked him up and down.

To Leech's surprise, the foreleg soon dropped back to the ground as the doorpony resumed his normal position.

"Apologies, sir, I thought you were somepony I knew. In you go - nice monocle, by the way!" said the doorpony.

Leech wasted no time in scurrying into the bar, silently thanking the powers that be for the fact he didn't have sweat glands!

Inside the bar, Leech quickly discarded the makeshift monocle - being smaller than an actual monocle, Leech could constantly see it in his peripheral vision which irritated him a great deal. Making his way through the hot, crowded, darkened bar area, he eventually located Trixie sitting at a table near the stage. He trotted over to his friend and joined her, just as Class Act cantered onto the stage. The already-dim lights faded entirely, as a spotlight illuminated the center of the stage.

"Mares and gentlecolts... please, put your hooves to the ground for tonight's Cheval Merde Cabaret Spectacular!" he said grandly.

With this, every pony in the room stomped their hooves, bar Trixie - her concentration was taken with anticipation. If her hypothesis was wrong, she'd be back to square one when it came to figuring out how this new power worked, and her stage show would almost certainly be a disaster. It was all or nothing, and everything hinged on tonight's events - a fact that Trixie was only too aware of.

After the hoof-stomping ceased (with Leech stopping a good 15 seconds after everypony else, attracting several glares from other ponies in the room), Class Act left the stage and the first act trotted into the spotlight. It was a dancer - Trixie sighed indignantly as the tutu-clad Earth mare began to perform ballet moves to the delicate refrains of an unseen harpist.

Trixie didn't even bother attempting to invoke her new power here - she'd already tried it with dancers, and it hadn't worked. She cared nothing for the art, and found it all rather tedious. Instead, she gazed with increasing boredom at the twirling and tip-hoofing pony as she captivated the rest of the audience with her skilfully choreographed routine.

After what seemed a lifetime to Trixie, the dancer took a bow and left the stage to the hoof-stomping of everypony except for Trixie and Leech, who wisely decided not to bother this time, lest he forget to stop again. Trixie's attention was piqued as the next act strode into view - a pegasus singer. Whilst Trixie couldn't hit a note even if it were stood three inches in front of her, she had always wanted to learn how to sing - this could be her chance to learn, rapidly!

Within moments, the cream-colored mare's song filled the room, the pitch-perfect crispness of the notes she sang seeming to cut through the very air itself. The audience was entranced with the strong yet exquisite sounds that seemed to be administering a massage to their eardrums. Trixie looked upward to the singer, and as if on cue, her horn shot out a quick but substantial spark of green energy as the pegasus' image flashed before Trixie's eyes. Trixie flinched instinctively and rubbed at her face to dissipate the spots that had appeared in her vision. Her horn continued to tingle throughout the rest of the singer's act, and by the time Trixie had regained her bearings, the next act was making his way to the stage.

It was the same magician that Trixie had seen previously, much to her delight. She could 'learn' how to do the Prismatic Orb Shower again, and perhaps some of his other tricks too! Sure enough, the magician performed the exact same routine that he had performed that fateful night when Trixie had first learned of her new ability. Trixie's horn shot a spark of changeling energy during almost every one of his tricks - his transmogrification, self-levitation, and of course the orb shower - but curiously not during his time-travel trick. Trixie could barely stifle a giggle at the magician's expense as she realized that this particular part of his routine must be faked! She also realized that her power could only imitate what the target was actually doing, rather than what she perceived them to be doing, which whilst disappointing in a way, made quite a bit of sense.

Her horn beginning to feel somewhat heavy, Trixie could barely raise her head to examine the final act of the evening approaching the stage. It was another Earth pony, this time a deep brown stallion who introduced himself as an 'improvisation poet'.

"Ponies of Canterlot, please hear my voice.
Give me a subject, whatever your choice.
Whatever you give me, I'll take little time
To convert it to verse, and make sure it rhymes." he said, the rhyming seemingly coming to him without effort.

"Roses!" called a voice from the back of the room. The poet on stage tapped a hoof to his chin for a few moments, before launching into another volley of verbose verse.

"A most noble flower is the rose,
Its scent a pleasure for the nose.
But if you grab it by the stem,
Your hooves will soon have cuts on them!" he quickly said, raising a few chuckles from the audience.

And so the act continued for several minutes, with the audience calling out increasingly random topics in the hopes of catching the poet out, but the poet effortlessly coming up with a short rhyming ditty for everything from dragons to drain cleaner. Although she wasn't especially into improvisation or poetry, Trixie's horn flashed once more as she took on the ability to improvise rhymes. She wasn't entirely sure why, but Trixie was certain it had something to do with the admiration the poet was receiving from involving the audience in his performance.

After the show had ended and the hoof-stomping had died down, Trixie and Leech were heading for the exit. Trixie felt partially excited at the prospect of testing whether her power-emulation had worked, and partially ill. She felt dizzy and her horn felt very heavy, as though it were physically full of the powers she'd duplicated during the evening. It seemed that the more powers she took on, the heavier her horn felt and the worse she felt overall. She currently held five extra abilities, and Trixie made a mental note that this was most likely the absolute maximum she could withstand before she'd feel too ill to perform.

Before the duo could leave the bar, however, they were stopped by Class Act, who had finished his stage management duties for the evening.

"Ah, Trixie!" greeted Class Act. "How wonderful to see you again. I trust you're still available next week?"

Trixie looked at Leech with trepidation, and hoped he wouldn't say anything.

"Oh yes, definitely!" she responded brightly.

"Izz thizz Trixzzie's new bozz?" Leech piped up, causing Trixie to quickly slap a hoof over his mouth.

"I say," remarked Class Act, "Your friend's got a bit of a strange voice. Is he alright?"

"Oh y-yes," stammered Trixie, "he's just got a bit of a sore throat. I keep telling him to rest it but he never listens!"

"Ah, it's a shame you didn't say anything earlier, we had a couple of strong liqueurs at the bar that would have cleared that right up! Alas, they're all gone now. Well, I'd better start locking up for the night. See you next week!" said Class Act, with a wave of a forehoof.

Without another word, Trixie hurried from the building and into the now much quieter streets, the cool air of the night a stark but welcome contrast to the bar's sweltering heat and humidity, with Leech not far behind her.

"Trixzzie, why did-" began Leech, before being cut off by Trixie.

"No time to explain." said Trixie dismissively. "Quickly Leech, follow me!"

Trixie began to gallop as fast as her hooves would carry her down the cobbled street, the rush of the air making her head feel clearer and alleviating the undesirable symptoms of her power absorption somewhat. Leech trailed behind, attempting to keep up, the motion whipping his temporary burgundy mane all over the place. Soon, the pair entered a dark alleyway that Leech recognized as the same one he'd run down the previous day. Sure enough, the two soon re-emerged into the stillness and silence of the empty central park, which was equally as beautiful under the moon's soothing glow as it was under the sun's brilliant rays.

As she caught her breath, Trixie looked all around her. Visibility was excellent under the moon's light, and Trixie could quite clearly see that nopony else was around.

"Perfect." she said to nopony in particular. "We're on our own. Now I can test my new power to its fullest..."

Noting that they were no longer anywhere near the bar, Leech shed his disguise with a burst of green flame, returning to his normal insectoid form. He gave a grateful buzz of his wings before meandering over to join Trixie.

"Doezz Trixzzie think powerzz worked?" he asked.

"That's what we're about to find out..." Trixie replied quietly, her voice a mixture of concentration and excitement, with a not-insignificant undertone of fear.

Trixie closed her eyes and thought hard, attempting to recall the powers she'd taken on that night. A green spark emerged from her horn with a pop, and the singer's image flashed before Trixie's eyes. Taking a deep breath, Trixie exhaled and with some trepidation, engaged her vocal chords.

A near-perfect high C note left Trixie's mouth and sailed along the breeze into the darkened silence that surrounded her. Altering her pitch slightly, melodious notes of all kinds effortlessly poured forth from the ecstatic unicorn's lungs.

Several minutes passed, and Trixie was still pacing around the park, a harmonious vocal melody still gushing from her mouth like a perfect fountain of sound. Just as Trixie was mentally congratulating herself on successfully emulating such an exquisite talent, the metaphorical fountain dried up, and the note Trixie was partway through singing suddenly turned to her usual off-key shriek. Leech clutched his ears as Trixie quickly ceased her performance.

Noticing her horn felt 'lighter', Trixie deduced that she must have used up the musical talent she had absorbed that evening.

"So," she said to herself, "Every power I take on can only be performed once before it's exhausted. Well, no matter - after all, I only need to do each one once on stage!"

Undeterred by the loss of her new singing ability, Trixie decided to test her new magical abilities next. Focusing her mind upon the self-levitation trick she had seen previously, the stage magician's image briefly appeared before her. Her horn began to glow with its usual lilac aura, and slowly but surely Trixie began to rise from the ground!

As the grass beneath Trixie's hooves gradually became more distant, Trixie noted how little effort she was able to accomplish her new tricks with. Her mind began to wonder whether, since so little thought was required, it would be possible to do more than one new trick at once? Deciding to take the risk, Trixie thought hard about the Prismatic Orb Shower. To her amazement, a dozen glowing orbs materialized from beneath her and began to follow her upwards in a stunning, luminous helix.

As Trixie ceased to rise and held a steady altitude of around twenty feet, the orbs caught up with her and began to spin around her, just as before. Observing the incredible technicolor halo of magical light that encircled her, Trixie then began to think of the self-transmogrification spell that the stage magician had performed. Instantly, Trixie's body felt different, as though it were a malleable material and her will was a shaping tool. She imagined a beautiful set of white-and-violet patterned moth wings, which immediately sprouted from her saddle area, throwing off her cape and causing it to flutter to the ground. It landed next to Leech, who didn't notice - he was standing slack-jawed and looking upward at the stunning show that played out before him.

Trixie felt a jolt as her horn became lighter once again and her self-levitation power ran out, but she held her altitude with a few gentle flaps of her newly-acquired wings. Releasing her control of the spinning orbs that surrounded her airborne form, all of them shot up into the air, with Trixie flapping her wings harder and ascending with them. She gave a jubilant front-hoof punch into the night sky against the breathtaking backdrop of the orbs bursting into shimmering splashes of glowing rainbow light.

"Trixie can do the Prismatic Orb Shower, plus other things too because she has the power!" she joyfully called out, the poet's rhyming skill asserting itself.

She gently lowered herself back to the ground just before her transmogrification power became spent and the wings retreated back into her torso. Her new powers all used up, her horn now felt its normal weight and the other symptoms had all subsided. Trixie looked towards the still-stunned Leech, and gave a long, hearty and slightly maniacal laugh as her adrenaline-filled mind took in the full implications of what she could now do.

"PREPARE YOURSELF, CANTERLOT!" she yelled into the starry night sky above. "FOR ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN DO... THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE CAN DO BETTER!"

Chapter 6 - Stealing The Show

Several days had passed since Trixie's incredible discovery of her new powers' full potential, days which had been largely uneventful. Trixie, as was her usual way, had become somewhat complacent and had left all the preparation for her cabaret debut until the evening before. Laying on her bed and staring up at the plain, white ceiling, she turned her head to the side with a sigh to gaze upon a calendar which hung on the wall. The next day had a large, red circle around it, and the words "CABARET DAY" scrawled in next to it. Although immensely confident in her new abilities, she still couldn't help but feel some nervousness at what would be the performance that made or broke her.

Deciding she had better cease procrastinating and choose which powers she'd take on, she hopped down from her bed and cantered out of the apartment, slowly descending the six flights of stairs to the building's main entrance. Stepping out of the apartment complex and into the fiery glow of the evening's sunset, Trixie's eyes immediately began to scan the area for ponies doing things that would befit a performance of the caliber she was expected to perform.

She'd decided against going back to the cabaret again - if she regurgitated a bunch of tricks that the audience had seen just the night before, it would not only prove boring for the ponies she sought to impress but could also attract unwanted suspicion. Trixie decided that the best way to go about the task at hoof would be to gather talents and skills from all corners of Canterlot, so as to keep things interesting and - perhaps more importantly - keep her tracks covered.

Finding no inspiration in the immediate vicinity of her home, Trixie prepared to look further afield when a familiar buzz overhead caught her attention. Leech zoomed across the Canterlot skyline, his day's work completed, descending in preparation to enter the apartment via his usual method, through the balcony doors.

"Leech, WAIT!" called Trixie, ugently. "I'm out here, so the balcony doors aren't..."

She was cut off by the only-too-familiar sound of chitin meeting double-glazed door.

"...open." she finished with a sigh.

Leech appeared over the edge of the balcony railing, rubbing his head with a forehoof.

"Why izz Trixzzie down there?" he called to Trixie.

"Looking for... 'inspiration' for tomorrow's show." answered Trixie. "Fancy coming to help me?"

Leech flew down from the balcony at once and landed beside Trixie, a smile across his face - he always loved to do things with his friend, and almost never turned down the opportunity whenever it presented itself.

The two walked through the hustle and bustle of the city's cobbled streets, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the evening whilst trying to spot ponies doing interesting things. Leech was telling Trixie about his day, whilst Trixie half-listened as she attempted to spot talents she could 'borrow'.

"... Zzsnap Happy wazz pleazzed with Leech'zz photozz. He even zzsayzz Leech ready to try advanced photography zzskillzz tomorrow!" Leech told Trixie excitedly.

"Oh? And what skills would those be?" asked Trixie, with genuine interest.

"Tomorrow Leech izz going to be trying it without the lenzz cap on!" Leech answered, his chest puffing with misguided pride.

Trixie fought the urge to facehoof, and instead continued her talent search. She was, by this time, becoming concerned - they'd seen every street performer in Canterlot, passed by every open-air cabaret and were heading towards the city limits by now. During it all, Trixie had seen nothing that she thought would sufficiently impress Class Act and satisfy the high standards that his audiences generally demanded.

As Trixie and Leech left the busy streets behind, they approached the outer walls of the Royal Castle gardens. Trixie let out a long, heaving, sigh as a feeling of severe anxiety began to well up inside of her.

"Well, Leech," she said glumly, "we might as well turn back. We're not going to find anything worth using all the way out here, the only things here are Royal Guards, more Royal Guards, and Twilight Sparkle. Nothing here that we could..." Trixie began before stopping.

Of course! Why hadn't she thought of this before?

Twilight cantered contentedly across the Castle gardens, having delivered her latest friendship report to Celestia by hoof - in addition, she'd been to the Castle's library to stock up on study materials. Noting the opportunity that lay before her, Trixie quickly positioned herself by one of the gardens' exits and waited for Twilight to trot by.

Twilight, knowing nothing of this, proceeded towards one of the large, wooden door-like gates that were set at various intervals into the immaculate white brickwork of the gardens' outer walls. Pushing the gate open with a hoof whilst she flicked through one of her new study books, Twilight wasn't prepared for what awaited her on the other side...

"Twilight Sparkle!" cried Trixie in the friendliest voice she could muster, "How wonderful to see you again!"

"EEK!" screeched the surprised Twilight, losing focus on her magical grip and dropping the library books onto the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you!" said Trixie, struggling to contain the urge to laugh. "Let me help you gather up those books."

"It's fine, really." replied Twilight, recovering her breath as she levitated the books back up onto her saddle area, where she'd been carrying them before.

"Oh, what's this?" enquired Trixie. "Are those magic books?"

"Yep, they certainly are!" answered Twilight, forgetting to be angry as her favorite discussion topic was raised.

"As the number one student of Celestia, I bet you've mastered loads of incredible and spectacular spells!" continued Trixie, just about able to keep her face from screwing up in disgust at herself.

"Toadying to Twilight Sparkle, of all ponies. Yeuch!" she thought.

"Well," Twilight replied with a blush, "I have been working on some of the more advanced magics as of late."

"Well, from one Great and Powerful unicorn to another, Trixie would love to see a demonstration of your doubtless amazing skills!" said Trixie brightly.

Stunned by the fact that somepony else seemed to take an interest in her endeavors for once, Twilight agreed to demonstrate some of her latest accomplishments with almost no hesitation.

"What could go wrong?" thought Twilight. "After all, Trixie is a hero now, she's obviously turned over a new leaf. There can't be anything sinister going on here, can there?"

Within minutes, both Trixie and Leech were seated on a bench within the Castle gardens, with Twilight standing before them on a patio area paved with red bricks. Both eagerly watched the Element of Magic as she prepared to show them her very latest and most technically challenging magical feats.

"Alright then, first up we've got this, which is a more advanced version of the standard object transformation spell..." began Twilight, gesturing towards a nearby patch of grass.

"Pffft! Transformation is foal's stuff!" scoffed Trixie, "Any idiot can turn a rock into a horseshoe, or a carrot into an onion!"

"Very true, but this version can transcend object groups. The examples you gave were a mineral to mineral and a vegetable to vegetable transformation." explained Twilight. "I can turn this grass..."

Twilight's horn gave off an intense violet flash. When it had cleared, the earth was bare where the grass had once been, with a small ceramic mug resting in the center of the once-green piece of land.

"...into kitchenware!" finished Twilight with a smile.

Trixie was agape. A vegetable-to-mineral transformation? This was incredible! Instinctively, her horn gave a flash of green, although Twilight fortunately didn't notice, being momentarily preoccupied as she changed the mug back into the lush, green vegetation it had previously been.

"Next, I've been working on my teleportation skills." Twilight announced.

Trixie's ears pricked up. This was one skill she really needed 'help' with.

"I managed to get the accuracy of my teleports down to a T," Twilight explained, "but they used up a lot of energy and had a slow recharge time. But more recently, I've streamlined the process..."

In a flash of white, Twilight disappeared and reappeared behind her amazed audience.

"So... I... can... teleport... rapidly... and... with... total... accuracy!" she explained, teleporting to a different location with each word before ending her sentence back where she had begun.

Rapid-fire teleportation! Trixie's horn gave a distinct yet mercifully unnoticed flash of green once again. She was definitely going to use that one!

Just as Trixie prepared to absorb whatever incredible power Twilight showed them next, Twilight caught sight of a nearby sundial.

"Celestia's beard!" cried Twilight. "I didn't realize what time it was! I'm supposed to be meeting the other Elements at the bistro in Canterlot Square! Sorry to cut things short, Trixie, but I'm going to have to-"

"Wait!" said Trixie, barely concealing her desperation.

"That's two tricks - for a first show, three should be enough, so if I can get just one more out of her..." her mind told her.

"Can you do a Prismatic Orb Shower?" asked Trixie hopefully, having become somewhat attached to that particular trick in recent days.

Twilight snorted.

"Of course, who can't? Now that really is foal's stuff!" she laughed, effortlessly summoning the familiar orbs of energy and twirling them around her body.

Some minutes later, after a spectacular series of rainbow-colored flashes from Twilight and an altogether more muted green flash from Trixie, Twilight bid Trixie and Leech farewell and headed towards Canterlot's main streets. Trixie and Leech trotted from the garden some time afterwards, a devious grin spread across Trixie's face despite the discomfort of her horn.

"Perfect!" she cackled. "That silly filly just gave me my meal ticket to stardom! Wait til the ponies of Canterlot see these tomorrow!"

With this, the two friends cantered across down, heading back towards their home. As they passed through Canterlot Square, they noticed Twilight and her fellow Elements plus Spike sitting around an outside table of a nearby bistro. Keeping their heads low, they forged ahead and hoped that Twilight wouldn't notice their presence or attempt to acknowledge them in any way.

"Hey! Trixie! Over here!" called Twilight, giving a wave.

Trixie cringed and gritted her teeth as she cantered over to her gathered rivals. Leech said nothing, instead locking piercing gazes with Rainbow Dash as he instinctively licked the remains of his broken left fang. It seemed that Leech could hold a grudge just as well as Rainbow could - she still hated him for what happened back in Ponyville!

"Hello, Twilight." said Trixie flatly. "Why have you called me over?"

"I just saw tomorrow's show being advertised!" explained Twilight. "Why didn't you mention it earlier? I've just bought a ticket, I can't wait to see what kind of magic you're going to come up with! I just called you over to wish you luck! Right, girls?"

"Break a leg, darling!"
"Go get 'em, sugarcube!"
"I bet it's gonna be super-duper...um... looper!"
"Yay!"

Rainbow said nothing, still gritting her teeth and staring at Leech, who had his hackles raised and was seemingly poised to take a flying dive at the cyan pegasus!

Trixie's smugness and excitement crumbled like one of Granny Smith's hip bones upon hearing this news. Bidding a subdued farewell to the Elements, she silently trudged away. She picked up Leech in her horn's magical grasp as she passed him, taking him away before a fight broke out. Setting him back onto his own hooves once the bistro was out of sight, he resumed walking alongside her.

"I can't believe it!" said Trixie, her voice beginning to crack. "Just as soon as I get a perfect repertoire for tomorrow, it turns out she's going! I can't do her signature tricks in front of her, she'll expose me!"

"Leech could take her plazze, like Leech did with Rainbow pony?" Leech suggested.

"We couldn't do that, not to the personal student of Celestia!" sighed Trixie. "Then we really would be heading for the dungeons! Besides, we're meant to be heroes now. That's not what heroes do."

"Oh." replied Leech sadly, realizing his moral compass still needed a bit of fine tuning.

"Besides, your role is going to be covering my moment of glory for the press!" Trixie quickly added, noticing how crestfallen Leech looked. To Trixie's relief, Leech did indeed appear to perk up considerably at the news.

Neither Leech nor Trixie said any more for the rest of the journey back to the apartment complex. After a slow, longer-than-usual slog up the stairs, Leech and Trixie entered the apartment. Trixie slumped onto the couch with a sigh as Leech lit the lanterns, the evening's dappled sun having long since given way to the infinite black sky of the night.

"Trixzzie will think of zzsomething!" ventured Leech, attempting to encourage his friend. "Trixzzie alwayzz doezz!"

"But what can I do, Leech? She's the personal student of Celestia, and a massive egghead to boot. There's no way I could outsmart her." she said with a frown.

"If Trixzzie cannot outzzsmart her, Leech zzstandzz no chance either!" added Leech dejectedly.

With this, Trixie's eyes opened as wide as saucers, as with a renewed vigor she leapt from the couch, completely forgetting her worries and the discomfort in her horn.

"Leech! That's it!" she cried, scooping Leech up into a hug.

"That...izz...what?" grunted Leech, the air being squeezed out of him by Trixie's vice-like embrace.

"There IS a way we can keep Twilight away from the show tomorrow! We can't outsmart her..." she began, releasing her hold on the now-breathless changeling.

"... but we can use her own studiousness against her!" she finished with glee.

With this, Trixie began explaining her plan as Leech listened intently to her every word.

Chapter 7 - Incident In Aisle 13

Trixie awoke the next morning feeling as though she'd been on a cider binge, despite the fact she hadn't touched a drop for months. Her horn felt as though it were hewn from dark matter, its weight seemingly impossible for its size and causing Trixie difficulty in raising her head. Sliding off her bed, Trixie landed upon a set of legs that clearly weren't up to the task of supporting her body, and she immediately fell in a crumpled heap upon the dark green marble tiles. Lifting herself up, her legs shook and attempted to buckle in protest, but Trixie managed to get them to hold firm long enough for her to trot over to the couch and slump into the supportive softness of its cushions.

Trixie wasn't sure whether her condition was down to nervousness at what the coming evening would hold, or a dire side effect of storing borrowed powers for an extended period - but either way, she'd have to get better before nightfall! Trixie wiped the seemingly endless torrents of sweat that ran down her face away from her eyes, as she focused in an attempt to prevent the room from spinning. The smell of food wafting over from the kitchenette made her nausea even more intense, and she instinctively raised a hoof to shield her nose from the delicious yet currently unwelcome aroma.

"Leech!" croaked Trixie "Are you cooking again? Tell me you're not, I don't think the fire brigade will appreciate being woken this early!"

Leech paced over to Trixie from the kitchen, and gasped audibly as he noted his friend's increasingly frail physical condition.

"Izz Trixzzie... OK?" he asked, despite knowing the answer for himself already.

"DO I LOOK-" Trixie began harshly, before altering her tone. "I mean, I'll be alright. Just nerves, that's all."

"Hmm, Leech izz not zzso zzsure. Maybe Trixie should ditch new powerzz?" Leech suggested in a concerned tone.

"No, no, it's fine, really." Trixie assured him, unconvincingly. "I've only got to hold onto them until tonight. Besides, it means I'll feel better as I release each power, so by the end of the show I'll feel great!"

"Well, if Trixzzie is zzsure..." said Leech suspiciously.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie is always sure!" said Trixie with a smile, her mood improving a little.

"Doezz Trixzzie want breakfazzt?" asked Leech.

"Hmm... I'm not really sure." replied Trixie, noting that she still felt very sick. "Maybe a bit later. What are you making anyway?"

"Leech izz cooking hay." said Leech proudly.

"You mean, you're cooking grass to dry it out and make hay?" asked Trixie, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope, Leech izz juzzt cooking zzsome hay. Over a nizze hot, naked flame for that home cooked tazzte!" Leech replied, mistakenly believing he was reassuring Trixie.

Despite her condition, Trixie instinctively leapt to her hooves and galloped across the apartment towards an ever-thickening plume of smoke that rose from the stove top. Sure enough, a frying pan filled with hay was aflame, orange shoots of plasma rising high and threatening to scorch the ceiling. Ignoring the pain that pulsed through her horn, Trixie levitated the burning pan into the half-full sink, immediately quelling the flames in the cooling embrace of last night's dishwater. With a sigh of relief, Trixie turned around to see Leech looking solemnly at the floor and shuffling his hooves. She approached him and placed a comforting hoof on his shoulder.

"Never mind," she said with a smile, "you may not have made breakfast, but that bit of excitement has made me feel quite a bit better. How about we go out for breakfast this morning? You aren't due at work until this evening, after all."

Leech brightened up immediately, and Trixie had to admit he had made her feel better even if it wasn't in the way he'd intended. The adrenal rush from fighting the fire had indeed stopped most of her symptoms, although her horn still felt tender to the touch and like a dead weight on her forehead. Still, she could walk properly and think of food without heaving, so it was definitely time for breakfast!

After a short walk into the heart of Canterlot, Trixie and Leech were sitting outside a cafe, at a table that faced out into Canterlot Square. Trixie was somewhat gingerly eating a dandelion sandwich, whilst Leech was skimming love from any couples who happened to pass by. Leech noted with interest that the majority of the love in Canterlot was nowhere near as strong or sweet as it had tasted elsewhere - it tasted watered-down and somewhat half hearted. Nevertheless, he soon gathered enough to satisfy his hunger for the morning.

Trixie too was deep in thought - would her idea to keep Twilight away from her show work? After Leech's gaffe in the kitchen, Trixie began to doubt whether he'd actually be able to keep the plan going for long enough. She pondered whether he'd mess it up before she had time to do what she needed to. If he did mess it up, it would be game over for the new life she had planned - it all hinged in Leech. An individual who doesn't even seem to know how fire works. Trixie shuddered involuntarily at this most terrifying of thoughts!

"Doezz Trixzzie have everything needed for tonight?" asked Leech, snapping Trixie out of her thoughts.

"No, I don't, not yet. We need to go shopping to get the supplies. That's why I came to Canterlot Square, they've got all the stores we need to go to." replied Trixie.

With this, she finished her sandwich and got to her hooves, and motioned for Leech to follow her. Together they left the cafe and headed towards a large, grand-looking store called 'Gracy's'. Billed as the most prestigious department store in all of Equestria, Trixie and Leech stepped through the revolving doors and emerged inside the store itself. Or rather, Trixie emerged - she then had to go back into the revolving door to retrieve Leech, who'd managed to get himself lost in there.

"It...wazz...like...being washed down plughole! Never-ending zzswirl of door and doorframezz!" gasped Leech dizzily.

After a double facehoof by Trixie, the duo wandered up and down the store's seemingly endless array of aisles, that stretched for what appeared to be eternity in either direction. Upon their shelves lay an extraordinary range of products, from homecare to clothes, outdoor furniture to fine jewellery. Everything about the place was huge, not least the majority of its price tags - both Trixie and Leech felt somewhat out of place looking at the caliber of the other customers! The super rich and social elite of Canterlot milled about the store, placing items in their shopping baskets without even looking at the prices - oh how Trixie wished she could shop with such impunity!

Presently, Trixie had gathered most of the things she'd come for - a set of plates and a potted plant, which she'd be using for her cross-group transformation routine plus a bunch of silk roses of varying colors. She planned to rapid-fire teleport around the audience, giving these out to the ponies she materialized closest to, remembering how the poet pony had benefited from including the audience in his performance.

She was seeking one last item, this time an item that would be needed to help keep Twilight away, when she became aware of a commotion behind her. She spun around only to find a worried-looking Leech staring upwards at the seething face of an obviously enraged Prince Blueblood. Presently, Blueblood turned to face Trixie, his eyes mere pinpricks as a result of his furious indignation.

"Is this... filthy object yours?" he demanded.

"Now listen here, pretty boy," began Trixie, "he's not an object, he's my friend, and I'd suggest you step away from him you pompous piece of-"

"I care not!" sniffed Blueblood, interrupting Trixie. "This creature just assaulted me! In a public place! I ought to have him banished to the moon!"

"Leech did not!" protested Leech. "Leech got dizztracted looking at all thizz neat zzstuff and bumped into prince pony's leg! Leech zzsaid he was zzsorry!"

"Sorry is not enough, insolent whelp!" snarled Blueblood. "I take it you're also 'sorry' for what you and your verminous brethren did at our dear Cadence's wedding?"

Leech shrank back in shame at this, as ponies all around began to whisper grimly among themselves at the scene that unfolded before them.

"Leech...alzzo... helped... zzsave... you..." he countered, feebly.

"Ha! You supposedly 'saved' us from a second attack by YOUR species! More likely you're trying to win our trust so you can destroy us from within! And you even had the gall to coerce this fair maiden into your vile scheme!" boomed Blueblood, pointing a hoof at Trixie.

Trixie steeled her body and prepared to give Blueblood a dental bill that even his immense wealth would struggle to cover. Nobody spoke to her friend like that, and she sure as hay wasn't going to tolerate being called a 'fair maiden' by a creep like Blueblood! However, her subconscious stopped her just as she prepared to charge at him - if she gave Blueblood a public humiliation now, she might as well not bother with her show tonight. She'd be run out of Canterlot in an instant, and Trixie was fed up of being run out of towns, being no stranger to leaving in a hurry when a magic show didn't go as planned. No, she couldn't teach Blueblood a lesson in respect, not right now anyway. Calming herself, she gently trotted between Leech and the still glowering prince.

"I am sorry if my friend has caused you any problems," she said calmly, her eyes closing and her head hanging low, "but I can assure you I am not being coerced in any way. If my friend's presence here is a problem, I will ask him to leave."

"Well, please do!" spat Blueblood, shooting another glare at Leech.

Leech shrank again from the stare, now laying on his belly on the ground with his forehooves ineffectually covering his eyes. He peered through the holes in his limbs to see Trixie's face looking down at him, wearing a gentle expression tainted with deepest regret.

"Leech, please wait for me at home. I will finish up here." she said softly.

"But... but Leech..." he began to stutter in protest.

He noted Trixie's soft but serious expression, and all the other ponies in the store now staring at him. Admitting defeat, he ceased his incoherent pleading and sadly headed for the exit, feeling the stare of Blueblood following him until he was totally out of sight.

Almost immediately after he left the building, the assembled ponies returned to their normal shopping, the incident seemingly forgotten in an instant. That is, by all but two individuals.

"That beast has no place here, young unicorn. You should know better than to bring our enemies into the very heart of our society!" said Blueblood sternly.

Trixie was in no mood for debating the finer points of allowing a changeling into Canterlot. Instead, she strode up to Blueblood until the two were standing snout-to-snout amid the shelves of goods. Staring into the prince's blue eyes, she uttered just three words:

"Don't. Push. It." she snarled through gritted teeth, before turning quickly and marching determinedly towards the aisle that held the last thing she needed.

"Hmmph. Commoner." muttered Blueblood haughtily, before levitating his basket and trotting snootily in the opposite direction.

The rest of Trixie's shopping went without incident - she found exactly what she was looking for in the toy aisle, headed for the checkout counter and paid with some coupons she'd received upon arriving in Canterlot. She was certainly relieved she wasn't paying cash, not at Gracy's prices! Cantering out of the exit, Trixie's stare remained fixed straight ahead - she dared not look down at the floor. She didn't want to catch sight of the trail of little salty spots of water that led to the exit.

Leaving the store and emerging into the freshness of the mid morning air, Trixie's ailments were all but forgotten as she moved briskly through the city's streets and back towards the apartment complex. Although she had a thousand and one things on her mind, her main concern was getting back to her home and checking on Leech.

"He's resilient enough." Trixie thought to herself. "He went through far worse back during his hive days. I'm sure he'll be alright.

Entering the apartment complex and galloping up the flights of stairs, Trixie ignored the fatigue in her legs and pushed the apartment door open. Standing still for a moment to listen for signs of activity, she heard nothing. Not at first at least - after a momentary spike of panic that Leech hadn't come back, she was able to detect a faint whimpering emanating from behind the couch.

Trixie set her purchases down on a nearby table, and trotted over to the couch. Peering behind it, she saw Leech curled in a ball between the back of the couch and wall, gently sobbing to himself. A burning pang of sorrow and regret pierced Trixie's heart as she levitated Leech from the behind the couch and set him down on the seat next to her.

"It's alright Leech." she said quietly, attempting to comfort him. "Blueblood is just a snobbish flankhole, there's no need to take any notice whatsoever - I'll be sending a stiff letter to the palace about his behavior today."

She placed a hoof around the still-shaken changeling's shoulders and received a shock when Leech uncurled his body and batted the friendly gesture away. He turned to face Trixie, his tear-stained eyes beneath a brow contorted downwards in what appeared to be... anger?

"Leech! Why are you..." Trixie began, her hoof instinctively recoiling in surprise.

"The embarrazzement, Leech can deal with." whispered Leech shakily. "Leech had worzze back in hive. But... b-b-but... what really hurtzz izz..."

"What? What is it?" asked Trixie, having trouble keeping her own eyes from filling with tears.

Leech shook his head mournfully, and croaked through a voice strained by the tension of holding back another wave of sobs:

"... why didn't Trixzzie help Leech..?"

Chapter 8 - A Star Is Born

Trixie, for possibly the first time in her life, was at a loss for words as she looked into her friend's grassy-green segmented eyes. Tears flowed down his chitin-coated cheeks, leaving powdery, whitish streaks of salt as they dried. Trixie again placed a hoof around Leech, pulling him in closer to her. This time, Leech offered no resistance, instead burying his face in Trixie's fur and sniveling.

"I tried, Leech. I did try to help you, really I did." said Trixie in the most soothing voice she could muster. "It's just that..."

"Trixzzie tried at firzzt," conceded Leech, "but then... but then Trixzzie juzzt givezz up and zzsendzz Leech away!"

With this, Leech burst into another round of bawling, muted somewhat by the fact his face was still pressed firmly against Trixie's shoulder. Trixie could only rub Leech's exoskeleton comfortingly as her friend let his emotions flow through his eyes and into her own coat, creating an unpleasant-feeling damp patch. She didn't care, not at the moment. She had wronged her friend deeply, she knew this, and she was determined to set things right. Making a snap decision, she released a heavy sigh as she swallowed the lump in her own throat.

"Leech... " she began softly, "forget about tonight's performance. I'll call it off, I have no right to ask your help tonight after what has happened today."

Trixie couldn't help but cringe as she felt the career she had dreamed of for so long, and had been so close to her grasp, begin to slide away from her. Deep down, however, she knew she was doing the right thing. Leech was in no fit state to help her, and to even expect his help after her failings would be supremely arrogant, even by her standards. To her surprise however, Leech immediately freed himself from Trixie's embrace before half-jumping-half-falling off the couch. He rubbed the tears from his eyes as he addressed Trixie.

"No!" he said urgently. "Trixzzie waited too long for thizz chanzze, Leech not going to ruin it for her. Leech will zzstill help Trixzzie, if Trixzzie will let him!" he added, almost pleadingly.

"Leech, are you sure you want to, even after that?" asked Trixie uncertainly, an eyebrow raised in disbelief and surprise.

"Leech izz alwayzz zzsure!" replied Leech, parroting Trixie's own words from earlier that day with a small smile on his face.

After another hug, Trixie took Leech into the bathroom and helped to to clean the tear-streaks from his facial chitin, as well as drying the face-sized wet patch she had in her own fur. With both of them sufficiently calmed, Trixie and Leech headed back into the lounge. Noticing that it was almost lunchtime, Trixie suggested that they again head out for food. Leech eagerly agreed to this, and requested that they go to the same cafe they'd visited that morning. There were always plenty of couples at that particular cafe - a veritable buffet for a changeling like Leech!

Before long, the two were once again seated at the very same table they'd had breakfast at, Trixie having just been served a bowl of carrot soup by the pegasus waiter. Leech was in far better spirits now as he merrily sampled the love from the various couples who invariably congregated at cafes during lunchtime. Some tasted very sweet, most tasted slightly bland, and a few of them even had the same bitter taste he'd gotten from Fancy Pants and the pegasus in the park. Trixie watched with bemusement as Leech gorged himself without even opening his mouth, his facial expressions alternating between joy, nonchalance and disgust as each unique flavor permeated his senses.

"We may be roughly the same shape, but changelings are just so different to ponies!" she thought, her bemused smile fading as this thought seemed to stick in her mind in a somewhat uncomfortable manner.

"Interezzting meal!" buzzed Leech, smacking his mandibles, "Zzso many different flavorzz! Zzsome of them not too good, though." he added with a slight retch.

Shaking the discomfort from the forefront of her mind, Trixie looked at Leech with concerned eyes.

"Leech, I understand you want to help me tonight... but I honestly don't think it'll be good for you. Not after what happened earlier." she said, her eyes turning away from Leech and instead focusing on the floor.

"Izz nothing!" replied Leech with a dismissive wave of a hoof. "Bezzidezz... zzsometimezz it'zz better to do what izz bezzt for your friendzz inzztead of yourzzelf!"

Trixie couldn't help but smile at the little changeling's seemingly endless emotional durability. Had the roles been reversed, Trixie knew she wouldn't have forgiven anypony for being responsible for such a humiliation. And yet just a couple of hours later, here she was sat with her friend as if nothing had happened. Trixie thought that it was unbelievable, inspirational, and most of all...

"It's better than you deserve." Trixie's mind told her, grimly.

Wincing at the chiding she had mentally just given herself, Trixie glanced towards the clock tower that stood in the very center of Canterlot Square. Early afternoon - she still had much to do to prepare both herself and Leech for the coming evening, so there was no time for sitting around in cafes! Quickly slurping the last of her carrot soup from her spoon, she got up and prepared to leave. As she turned to head for home, she called back to Leech.

"Leech, can you go and tip the waiter?" she asked.

"Umm... izz Trixzzie zzsure she wantzz Leech to do that?" Leech asked apprehensively.

"Oh yes," affirmed Trixie, "to thank him for his great service."

With a shrug, Leech headed into the cafe, scanning the room until he saw the pegasus that had served them. He was loading dirty plates onto his saddle area, ready to take them into the kitchen for cleaning. Leech casually strode up to the waiter and, revving his wings to give him a bit of extra pushing power, gave the waiter a huge shove, tipping him onto his side. The dark gray pegasus gave a yelp as he fell, sending the plates he was carrying sailing through the air, some of them landing on the slate-tiled floor and smashing whilst others landed in the meals of other customers.

"Thankzz for great zzservice!" Leech said with a smile, before flying out of the cafe and catching up with Trixie, who had mercifully already begun to walk home and had thus seen nothing.

"That'zz how poniezz zzsay thankzz? Leech will never underzzstand Canterlot!" Leech thought as he landed next to his friend.

The afternoon seemed to slide by far quicker than Trixie would have liked. Her nervousness increased tenfold with every passing minute, and by the time the early evening rolled around she was a wreck. All her previous ills from that morning had returned with a vengeance. Leech had left the apartment by this stage to clock in with Snap Happy - officially, he would be covering Trixie's premier performance on behalf of the Canterlot Chronicle. Trixie of course, had very different plans for him. Alas, she was unable to think about Leech in her present condition - instead she stared at her reflection in the mirror, anticipation and doubt swirling like an emotional maelstrom behind her eyes.

"What if my new powers don't work? What if they run out too soon? What if Twilight turns up?" she thought, barely able to hear herself think over the fierce roar of her blood coursing through the veins of her inner ears and the continuous brutal thumping of her heart.

Cantering out of the bathroom on shaky legs, she noticed the time on the clock that was hung upon the lounge wall. There was no further time to waste - it was now or never. Apprehensively levitating her signature cloak and hat over from a nearby peg, it didn't take her long to change into her familiar stage garb before heading out of the door.

The walk to Le Cheval Merde that evening felt to Trixie like the longest and most anguishing trek she had ever embarked upon, despite it being mere minutes from the apartment complex. Her hooves dragged with every step as the very atmosphere seemed to be resisting her every attempt to move forwards. She'd heard of how debilitating stage fright could be, but she never thought it'd feel anything like this! Presently she saw Leech waiting for her near to the entrance of the bar, seated at a table outside a bistro that had closed for the evening. Like Trixie, he too was dressed for work with his camera dangling from his neck and his beloved 'Press' hat perched upon his head.

Trixie trotted over to greet him, levitating her hat from her head as she did so. Magically reaching into the depths of the oversized cone-shaped headwear, she pulled out a box and placed it on the table in front of Leech.

"Izz thizz thing Trixzzie zzsaid Leech izz to uzze to dizztract Twilight pony?" asked Leech, his speech impediment making the sentence difficult for him to say.

"Indeed it is," said Trixie with a nod, "as I told you, all you need to do is play with it and when Twilight walks by, ask her to help you. Her eggheadedness and inability to let things lie will do the rest." she added, smirking.

With this, Trixie trotted away and, glancing back at Leech for just a few seconds, entered Le Cheval Merde. Leech was left to examine the box that had been placed before him. Straining to read the words, after some minutes he was able to deceipher the text printed upon the cardboard container's lid:

PlotDevice Puzzles™ Ltd - 1500 PIECE JIGSAW

Printed upon the box was a large picture of hundreds of jelly beans of varying colors. Leech quizzically scratched a hoof to his head.

"What izz a jigzzaw?" he wondered out loud.

Eager to satisfy his curiosity, he levitated the lid from the box to see what was inside. He found the lower part of the box to be filled with many hundreds of oddly-shaped pieces of thick cardboard, which he tipped out onto the table and spread out in front of him. Scratching his head once again, he ran a hoof through the pile of pieces as he attempted to figure out what he was meant to do with them. Each of them looked to Leech like a tiny, oddly-shaped picture of a few of the jelly beans that were printed upon the box.

Whilst Leech attempted to figure out the inner mysteries of jigsaw puzzles, Trixie was in the backstage area of Le Cheval Merde attempting to figure out the inner mysteries of just what the buck she was going to do if things went wrong. She'd passed by the queue of ponies waiting to enter on her way in - not only was said queue very long, it also contained some of the most important and influential ponies in all of Canterlot. Fancy Pants, Hoity Toity, Photo Finish and (to Trixie's chagrin) Blueblood to name a few of them. Class Act had even taken the liberty of selling tickets to what was ordinarily a free entry cabaret. Failure was absolutely not an option, not in front of an audience such as this one!

"Trixie!" called Class Act from outside the door. "It's showtime. Your destiny awaits!"

The unabated excitement in the usually-stuffy bar owner's voice made Trixie shudder even more. Not only was she relying on doing well in her performance, but it seemed that Class Act was too! Feeling more nervous than ever, she left the dressing rooms and cantered onto a darkened stage, taking her place behind a heavy red velvet curtain that hung between the front of the stage and the audience. Trixie closed her eyes and attempted to bring her rapid breaths under control, slowing them to a more 'normal' rate after what felt like hours.

"Mare and Gentlecolts!" boomed the voice of Class Act through the speakers either side of the stage, each syllable striking Trixie in the heart with an adrenaline-coated spike of terror and trepidation. "Please put your hooves to the ground for Canterlot's hottest new magical talent... The Great and Powerful Trixie!"

With this, the curtain parted, as the spotlight burnt at Trixie's eyes as though somepony had just summoned a miniature sun and placed it directly above the stage. Shaking, nauseated and now half-blinded, Trixie stumbled towards the front of the stage and took in what she saw around her. The low, intense rumble of hoof-stomping gradually ceased as the audience settled in to watch Trixie perform. Sweat again poured from Trixie's brow as she noted everypony in the room staring at her, many with stony expressions. Under normal circumstances, she would have loved this, and had often dreamed about giving such a performance for most of her life. Alas, the reality certainly wasn't living up to the fantasy so far! Swallowing her rising panic, Trixie dutifully removed the first set of props from her hat, and prepared to perform her first act...

Twilight hurried through the streets of Canterlot, the street lamps lighting her way as the evening's light began to decline. She hated being late for anything, and Trixie's show was no exception. Her hooves clicked and clacked as she raced across the cobbles, having run all the way from the Royal Castle's library. As usual, she'd gotten lost in her magic studies and hadn't kept a proper track of the time. She forged ahead, seeing that Le Cheval Merde was in sight just ahead of her.

"I hope I haven't missed too much! I don't want to... oh, what's this?" she panted, noticing Leech sitting at a table, messing with something in the glow of a nearby streetlamp. Leech looked up from his pile of pieces and waved a hoof.

"Hello Twilight pony!" called Leech.

"Good evening, Leech." replied Twilight. "What are you doing out here? Aren't you meant to reporting on Trixie's show?"

"Yezz, and Leech will," Leech responded, "but Leech hazz to do thizz firzzt. Trixie bought a picture at the zzstore today but it'zz broken, wantzz Leech to put it back together!" he explained.

Confused, Twilight took a closer look at the items on Leech's table, before letting out a gentle chuckle.

"Leech, that's a jigsaw! It's meant to be in pieces!" she explained politely.

"Zzso how doezz it work if it'zz broken? Can Twilight pony help Leech?" enquired Leech.

"The idea is that you put it back together to make the picture on the box." Twilight said, levitating the lid to where she could see it more clearly. "1500 pieces, huh? Well, this shouldn't take too long. I'll get this done in a jiffy and then we'll head inside."

Back on stage, things were going better than anticipated. Where a single pot plant and five plates had once been, there was now a plate and five pot plants. The advanced transformation spell that Trixie had 'borrowed' had worked well. Feeling that particular power beginning to fail, Trixie just had time to change everything back to its original state before with a splutter of green energy, the first of Trixie's new powers became depleted. Although the reversal had been unnecessary to the show, Trixie had begun to get her second wind and had wanted to show off. (Plus, Trixie rather liked the plates and planned to keep them after the show was done with.)

There was a gentle hum throughout the room as the audience whispered to each other about what they had just witnessed, with many of the previously stony looks now changed to expressions of wonderment.

"Now, ponies of Canterlot! Prepare yourselves for the Great and Powerful Trixie's next amazing feat!" proclaimed Trixie, her usual stage grandeur flooding back after her initial success.

Her horn also felt lighter by this time, having jettisoned one of the stored powers. Focusing her energies and thinking of teleportation, Twilight's image once more flashed before Trixie's eyes as she felt the rapid-fire teleportation spell flow through her body...

Outside, things were progressing a little more slowly. Twilight sifted through the pile of cardboard pieces, rapidly levitating each one before her eyes before setting it down into one of two piles.

"What izz Twilight pony doing?" asked Leech.

"Sorting out the ones with straight edges." answered Twilight abruptly, attempting to concentrate on her task.

"Leech can help!" buzzed Leech, levitating some of the pieces that didn't have straight edges up to his face.

"What are you doing?" wailed Twilight, noting that some of the pieces Leech held were beginning to bend.

"If Leech breakzz thezze peg bitzz off, all piecezz have zzstraight edgezz and Twilight pony not need to zzsort!" he answered proudly, believing he was helping.

"Don't do that!" cried Twilight, removing the pieces from Leech's grasp before he could do anything with them. "Look, just watch what I do and then you'll know for next time, OK?"

Inside Le Cheval Merde, the floor of the main performance seemed to be in danger of collapse, such was the intensity of the hoof-stomping that was taking place. Several of the audience members now had silk roses as a memento of their evening, delivered to them by Trixie without her having taken a step. The teleportation routine had been an even bigger success than her first trick, and by now Trixie had the audience eating out of her hoof.

As the hoof stomping died down, Trixie once again addressed her now admiring audience.

"For Trixie's grand finale, Trixie shall perform her stunning rendition of that classic routine, the Prismatic Orb Shower! But do not mistake this for any mere magic kindergarten version, my dear ponies. Oh no, what you are about to witness is possibly the greatest version of this legendary spell that you shall ever lay your eyes upon!" she pontificated grandly, raising a unified 'oooh!' from the audience.

Her horn now feeling so much better for being relieved of two-thirds of its burden, Trixie concentrated harder than she had ever done before as Twilight appeared before her eyes one last time...

The brief, fleeting image of Twilight that Trixie had seen was doubtlessly of a neater appearance of the real Twilight at that particular moment in time. Her mane looked as though she'd been standing in a gale, her pinprick pupils darting about her widened eyes as she scanned the useless pile of cardboard fragments that lay in front of her. To her, they all looked like the exact same picture of a few useless segments of jelly beans, utterly unsortable other than those with straight edges and those without. She stared at them for a moment, the image of half-complete jelly beans branded into her retinas.

"What madpony created this thing?" she snarled, her nostrils flaring and her teeth gritted.

"Izz there problem?" asked Leech innocently.

"Problem? Why no, Leech, there's no problem at all other than this thing is impossible, impossible, IMPOSSIBLE!" Twilight cackled maniacally, her sanity slipping away by the second.

Both Twilight and Leech were distracted from their puzzle-based problem when they heard a deep, thudding wave of sound coming from inside Le Cheval Merde.

"What in Equestria is that?" gasped Twilight.

"It'zz Leech'zz cue!" answered Leech, immediately taking flight, as Twilight galloped behind him.

The two entered the bar to the absolutely deafening roars of cheering ponies, their combined hoof-stomps forming the pulsing bass-line of congratulation that they'd been able to hear from outside. Twilight watched in awe as Trixie stood upon the stage, bowing before an audience of Equestria's most important celebrities and nobleponies. Leech scooted down to the front of the room, deftly weaving through the tables, chairs and cheering ponies, and readied his camera. With some difficulty, he managed to maneuver the camera to his eye, pop off the lens cap, and hit the shutter release. The blinding flash of the flashbulb briefly enveloped the entire room in a bright white haze, but nopony noticed - least of all, Trixie who was still preoccupied with soaking up the praise that rained upon her from all angles.

The next morning, doormats throughout Canterlot had the morning edition of the Canterlot Chronicle land upon them - emblazoned upon the paper's front cover were two things. Firstly, a slightly crooked picture of Trixie taking a bow before her audience. Secondly, a large headline above it which simply read:

A STAR IS BORN!

Chapter 9 - Back On Top

Trixie awoke the next morning to what felt like a low ringing in her ears... yet the sound seemed to be coming from an outside source. Blinking her eyes hard against the luminous onslaught of the sun's rays beaming through her bedroom window, she sat up in her bed and let out a long, drawn-out yawn. Slowly coming to her senses after the night's slumber, she began to focus on the hushed but persistent hum that continued to invade her eardrums. It almost sounded like... voices? Lots of voices, all of them jostling over one another to be heard, occasionally punctuated with rapid bursts of clicking. Her early morning grogginess was soon shattered by an overwhelming wave of excitement as her memories of last night's victory came flooding back to her all at once, causing her to leap out of her bed with gusto.

"Today, I shall celebrate my long-overdue return to the spotlight, where I rightfully belong!" she thought, "But first... I really must find out what that noise is!"

Cantering from the bedroom to the lounge area, the click-clack of her hooves on the polished marble floor echoing off the high ceiling as she did so, she was surprised to see a panicked-looking Leech braced against the front door. Upon seeing his friend, Leech immediately began buzzing agitatedly to her.

"Trixzzie! Help Leech! Hordezz of marauding poniezz try to zzstorm apartment!" he wailed, pleading to Trixie with his eyes. "Leech cannot hold them off for long! Uzze magic to make them go away!"

"Marauding ponies? In Canterlot? Surely that can't be right!" replied Trixie, a look of confusion appearing on her face.

Sure enough, the door that Leech was braced against occasionally flexed and bowed slightly, as though somepony - or indeed someponies - were attempting to barge their way through. The sound that Trixie had awoken to was far louder in this room, and to Trixie it seemed to be coming directly from behind the door! Whoever was trying to get in was also making something of a terrible racket whilst they were doing so. Trixie listened more intently as she deciphered the garbled mass of vocalization that continued to permeate her apartment...

"Can we get a picture?" one voice said.

"Can I have your autograph?" another piped up, over the madding crowd.

"I'm from the Equestria Inquirer, could I have an interview?" came yet another voice among the many.

Trixie's mouth couldn't help but bend upwards into a delighted grin.

"Leech, these aren't marauders!" she laughed, grabbing the surprised Leech by his forehooves and twirling him about the room in a delirium-induced semi-tango. "They're the Great and Powerful Trixie's army of new fans! Sounds like there's some press outside there too!" she continued, her voice becoming higher and cheerier with each syllable.

Leech, after he'd recovered his bearings from the unexpected and impromptu dance, looked to Trixie with a semi-disappointed look on his face.

"But... Leech thought he wazz Trixzzie'zz prezz coverage pony. Well, changeling." he muttered dejectedly.

"Don't worry, Leech, you are!" Trixie replied brightly, "Which is why I'm going to give you a head start over all the other journalists out there!"

With this, she levitated Leech's camera and all-important press hat over to him, deftly placing the camera around Leech's neck and nestling the hat snugly onto his head. Immediately after this, Trixie quickly dressed herself in her trademark stage outfit, before adopting a dramatic pose before Leech. She stood with her legs straight and her head held almost vertically, with her eyes closed in faux-concentration, and her horn aglow as though she were about to cast some sort of epic spell. Her left side was facing Leech, who stood in confusion at what was happening before him.

"Well, go on then!" encouraged Trixie. "Get an exclusive photo of Trixie in a suitably grandiose pose, then get off to work! Your photo will be on the presses whilst the competition is still interviewing me!"

Leech, now that he understood the plan, wasted no time in snapping several photographs of Trixie in her imposing stance before rocketing towards the balcony doors so he could take flight. Trixie meanwhile was flicking through some old pieces of paper, small clouds of dust being flicked from the pages as she shuffled through them. Her concentration was broken by the all-too-frequently-heard sound of Leech meeting closed glass door. Presently, she found the page she'd been looking for, and took it over to Leech who was, as ever, sitting on the floor and rubbing at his head.

"I think I need to speak to Celestia about getting some balcony doors which aren't transparent." she mused, helping Leech to his hooves and ensuring he wasn't hurt.

After establishing that her friend was alright, she rolled the page up and popped into one of Leech's foreleg holes.

"What izz thizz?" Leech asked, glancing towards the sheet that Trixie had given to him.

"Well, the Chronicle is almost certainly going to want some words to go with their exclusive snaps!" Trixie explained. "Luckily I pre wrote a few press interviews for my inevitable stardom a few ye... I mean, weeks ago. This one should do nicely, just tell Snap Happy to ignore the date on it." she continued, somewhat sheepishly.

Giving a salute, once again knocking his hat off-kilter, Leech opened the balcony doors and look flight into the morning skies of Canterlot. As he did so, he looked downwards, and noticed a heaving throng of ponies from the entire cross-section of Canterlot society at the apartment complex's main entryway, all of them vying to catch a glimpse of Canterlot's hottest new cabaret sensation.

"You there, young changeling!" called a voice from the crowd.

Leech halted his advance and settled into a hover, as he looked down towards the pony who had called him. None other than Fancy Pants looked back up at him.

"Hello!" Leech responded, giving Fancy Pants a cheery wave.

"Ahem, yes, greetings." Fancy Pants responded, a little flustered at having to deal with Leech again. "Tell me, is your friend Trixie at home?"

"Indeed she izz." answered Leech. "Trixzzie zzsayzz she will be addrezzing fanzz shortly."

"Exactly what I wanted to know. Thank you." said Fancy Pants.

"Doezz Fanzzy Pony want Leech to get him more film from work? Leech izz zzsure Zzsnap Happy won't mind!"

"No, no, it's quite alright." Fancy Pants quickly responded. "By the way, I'd appreciate it if you told nopony of what went on that day..."

Leech gave a nonchalant shrug - he knew he'd never fully understand ponies, so didn't bother to question Fancy's motives. Instead, he bid Fancy Pants farewell before resuming his flight towards the Canterlot Chronicle offices.

The late morning and early afternoon would prove to be an exhausting one for Trixie. The moment she'd opened the door, a seemingly never ending torrent of ponies had flooded into her apartment, many of them holding out autograph books or pushing hoofheld tape recorders into her face and asking questions. She tried to address everypony in due time, but the sheer numbers quickly overwhelmed her. Fortunately, a pair of royal pegasus guards had been dispatched to investigate the commotion, and with their help Trixie had managed to marshal the gathered mass of fans, admirers and press into a large group outside the apartment building. Deciding it would be far easier to try and address them all at once rather than make herself dizzy attempting to deal with them individually, Trixie strode onto the balcony to be greeted by a cheer that rattled the very air around her. It took every fiber of Trixie's being not to burst into euphoric laughter, but she nevertheless retained her dignified demanor long enough to give a speech to the assembled ponies that stood below her.

"Ponies of Canterlot, the Great and Powerful Trixie is here to answer any questions you may have for her!" she announced grandly to the crowd, causing an incomprehensible torrent of noise to burst forth from the crowd as everypony tried to speak at once.

"One at a time, one at a time!" she snapped, still feeling a little irritable from the day's shenanigans. "I mean... would you be so kind as to raise your hooves if you want to ask me something?" she said sweetly, deciding that getting snappy with her fans could damage her chances of retaining her new-found fame!

Trixie scanned the sea of raised hooves that lay before her, sticking up from the crowd like a bed of reeds from a riverbank. Her eyes moved to the interviewer from the Equestria Inquirer whom she'd attempted to speak with earlier.

"You, at the front." she said briskly, pointing to the reporter.

"Thank you, Ms Lulamoon." began the reporter. "Now that you've hit the big time, what are your plans for the immediate future?"

"Oh that's easy. I'm in a contract with Le Cheval Merde for the moment, so I'll remain performing there for now." she replied, a little disappointed at such a mediocre question. "OK, you next." she added, looking toward a turqoise mare with a strangely-styled white mane and even stranger pink-tinted glasses towards the back of the crowd.

"Trixie! Photo Finish is here to make you even greater than you are now. With my help, you could be making... ze magicks. Magicks of an altogether different kind to the kind you already do. Tell me you'll come to my studio tomorrow and let me work my genius upon you." she blurted, with plenty of dramatic pauses and a strange accent.

Trixie didn't mind either of these things though, she was just pleased that this particular query was about her. Although it seemed to be more of a demand than a question, Trixie's answer was nevertheless the same.

"I'D LOVE TO!" she squealed in excitement, before quickly remembering where she was. "That is, Trixie will come to your studio, just to see if you're as good as you say." she sniffed, re-erecting her veneer of haughtiness.

"Excellent. I shall be seeing you tomorrow. Now, I go!" replied Photo Finish, as both she and her entourage broke away from the crowd and trotted away down the street.

Trixie turned her head around and looked back into the apartment - it was late afternoon according to the clock on the wall, and high time Trixie began to make preparations for her evening. Leech would be back soon, and she didn't want him to come back to all this commotion and disturbance.

"Alright, there's time for one more." Trixie called to her audience. "Erm... you, over there." she called, pointing to a teenage filly in the outskirts of the crowd.

"Can you do a prismatic orb shower for us? I loved seeing you do that trick!" she called to Trixie, whose face immediately dropped upon hearing the question.

"I can't do that, I haven't re-absorbed it from anypony!" she thought, her blood suddenly running cold and her ears dropping.

Worse still, the filly's request seemed to be popular with the rest of the crowd, who began to chatter excitedly to each other, all of their eyes looking up at the showmare on the balcony.

"Well, you see, Trixie... um... Trixie cannot do that just now, because... b-because..." Trixie faltered, attempting to find a valid reason not to fulfill the request. "Because... it's the daytime! The trick only really works in a darkened room or at night, when everypony can see it better. You can hardly see it at all in daylight!" Trixie hurriedly responded, her eyes nervously scanning the crowd for any adverse reactions, her mind fervently hoping that nopony would question her deception.

"Oh, OK then. That makes sense I guess. I hope you do it at your next cabaret show!" replied the filly brightly, again drawing chatters of agreement from the other ponies present.

"Yes, yes of course Trixie will." Trixie replied, her legs feeling weak as her body relaxed itself after her brief scare. "That is all the questions Trixie has time for today - now, I must go and practice, ready for my next amazing display of magic!" she finished, making a grand exit by teleporting off the balcony in a spectacular puff of smoke.

Re-materializing inside the apartment, she could hear the gathered ponies slowly dispersing back into Canterlot, their voices growing ever distant as they made their way back home. Trixie slumped onto the couch, her muscles burning from being on her hooves all day and a pounding headache beginning to make itself known. Yet through the fatigue in her body and the dull thuds of discomfort from her head, Trixie couldn't have been happier. One decent show, and she was already even more famous than she'd been after saving Canterlot! If she'd had fingers, she would have pinched herself to ensure she wasn't dreaming. As she lay, contemplating the day's events and wondering what the coming days would hold, she could hear a conversation outside the building through the open balcony doors.

"You heard Miss Trixie, she said no more questions." came a gruff voice.

"Indeed I did, good sir," came a calm, smooth, classy tone. "I merely wish to invite her-"

"Look, I know you're used to getting your own way, but she said she's had enough for today. Please, just come back another time." came the first voice again, sounding a little more annoyed this time.

Wondering what the problem could be, Trixie wearily hauled herself back to her hooves and gently strolled back onto the balcony, pausing to rub at her tired eyes. Looking down at the street below, she could see that the crowd of ponies was completely gone, except for three - Fancy Pants, and the two royal guards who had helped manage the crowds during the day. The former seemed to be attempting to reason with the latter in order to get a private audience with Trixie, and negotiations weren't going his way.

"Now look here, gentlecolts." said Fancy Pants, his classy tone becoming slightly darker, "All I ask is that I may-"

He stopped as he noticed Trixie had reappeared upon the balcony.

"It's OK, boys," Trixie called down to the guards, "let him say what he wants to say."

"Ah, thank you." Fancy Pants remarked, as the guards parted and allowed him to come closer to the building. "I merely wanted to inform you that I would be attending a banquet at the royal castle tomorrow night, and I would be most honored if you were my guest for the evening." he finished, looking up at Trixie with warm eyes and a kind smile.

Trixie could barely believe what she was hearing - fame, a photoshoot with Photo Finish and now she was to be Fancy Pants' new favorite party guest? It was although all her Hearth's Warming Eves had arrived at once!

"I graciously accept your invitation, Fancy Pants!" Trixie called down to him, her headache and tiredness now a distant memory, replaced instead by excitement and just a small amount of trepidation.

"Ah, splendid!" replied Fancy Pants, "I shall sent a carriage to pick you up at eight o'clock sharp tomorrow evening! Everypony who is anypony will be there, so I definitely think you'll be in good company!" he added, before turning to leave.

Trixie could only stand there, dumbstruck, as she watched Canterlot's greatest celebrity canter away, having just invited her to accompany him for an evening at the royal palace. Thanking the royal guards for their assistance, she very slowly turned and headed back inside, gently closing the balcony doors as she fully comprehended what had just happened. After standing still in the center of the lounge for what seemed to be hours, she finally burst into a series of whoops and cheers, even doing a cartwheel in her intense jubilation!

"Trixie, tomorrow is going to be the greatest day of your entire life!" she told herself out loud, before scurrying into her bedroom to find her very best outfit for the next evening.

At the Canterlot Chronicle offices, Leech was also having a pretty good day. His photographs and Trixie's press release had been very well received by both Snap Happy and the Chronicle's readers, with sales of the afternoon edition being the highest they'd been for weeks.

"You're definitely getting there, Leech my boy!" Snap Happy said enthusiastically, with a hint of surprise to his voice.

"Wazz there ever any doubt?" Leech replied in a rare moment of egoism, his chest puffing out a little.

Snap Happy decided not to give an honest answer to Leech's query, and instead continued to trot down one of the office's many corridors with Leech by his side. They were heading for the dark room to develop a couple more of the pictures Leech had taken that morning, when the two passed by a room that Leech hadn't seen before. He'd passed by it many times during his work here, but he'd never seen it with the door open until now.

"What'zz in there?" Leech asked, stopping by the open door and peering inside.

"Ugh. You don't want to know." Snap Happy replied, rolling his eyes.

Apparently, Leech did want to know, as he'd already wandered into the room before Snap Happy could stop him. With a resigning sigh, Snap Happy quickly followed Leech as he began to explore the unseen office.

"Leech not know thizz offizze wazz here! What izz thizz plazze?" Leech asked Snap Happy.

"This is the office where the weekly gossip supplement is produced." Snap Happy explained, disgust very much present in his tone. "I don't care much for it myself, but the owners of the paper claim it's too profitable not to have.

Leech looked in wonderment at the office around him. Most of it seemed to be the same as the other offices in the building - there was a wooden desk, on top of which sat a typewriter, a ream of paper and a filing tray. The smell of coffee was very much present in the air, but there was something in the room that Leech had never seen in any of the other offices. At first glance it appeared to be a slot machine, similar to the type Leech had seen on travel brochures for Las Pegasus.

"That doezzn't make zzsenzze." Leech buzzed out loud. "Why would a zzslot mach-"

"Dat ain't no slot machine, kid!" came a deep, obnoxious voice from the office doorway.

Leech whirled around to see a large, pudgy beige unicorn standing in the doorway. His deep gray mane was heavily waxed and slicked back, although it appeared to be thinning in places, his teeth were yellowed and his eyes had heavy, gray bags beneath them. Leech involuntarily recoiled a little, as the unicorn spoke once again.

"Whatchoo are lookin at dere, is da greatest ting ta' hit newsmakin' since da printin' press!" the newcomer continued in a semi Istallion accent.

"Leech, this is Tattle-Tale, our gossip editor." Snap Happy explained, with another disgusted eye roll. "Tattle-Tale, this is Leech, my new reporter."

"Hey, kiddo. Take it from me, you don't wanna be workin' for dis schmuck. Regular news is dull, ponies of Canterlot want - no, need - dirt an' scandal. I'm what keeps dis here publication afloat!" Tattle-Tale said with venom, shooting a cocky glance towards Snap Happy.

"You also keep the local law firms afloat, Tattle. How many times have you been sued this year?" asked Snap Happy bitterly.

"Two hundred an' fourteen!" laughed Tattle-Tale, sounding proud of this achievement. "But da money my articles make more dan pays for da court settlements!"

Leech backed away again. He was beginning to regret asking what this office had been for now! Plucking up what remaining courage he had, he asked Tattle-Tale what the device on his desk was for.

"Dis," began Tattle, "Is what I use for inspirin' my articles."

"What he means is, he's so bucking lazy he just uses a machine to make up scandals for him, regardless of their truth." Snap Happy interjected flatly.

"Dat dere is slander!" responded Tattle-Tale, pretending to be hurt. "I should take you to da courts!"

"Well, I guess you probably know the courts inside out by now..." retorted Snap Happy, generating an enraged grunt from Tattle-Tale.

"Anyway, ignore dis mook right here and listen up smart. When I pull dis lever, dese three drums right here start to spin, just like a slot machine. Da difference is, dis first drum has da names of all Canterlot's hottest celebs on it, da middle one has da sort of dubious activities dese celebrities get up to, and da third drum has locations and more names on it. Allow me to demonstrate." Tattle-Tale explained, his horn glowing and using his magic to pull a lever at the side of the machine.

Leech observed as the three drums whirled around, each rotation threatening a public relations disaster for anypony unfortunate enough to have their names written upon them. After a few seconds, each drum came to a stop, and between the three of them they created a potential story idea for Tattle-Tale.

Fleur de Lis

seen shopping with

Hayseed Turniptruck

"See?" exalted Tattle-Tale. "Comin' up wid a juicy gossip story is as easy as fallin' off a log! You should definitely ditch the mainstream news before it's too late, kid. Dis is where da real profit is! Anytime you fancy a change from da dull world of news, come see me. I'll fit you up wid some real assignments!"

"I don't think Leech will be doing that, Tattle. Come on Leech, we've got some pictures to develop." Snap Happy replied, guiding Leech out of the room.

"An' I've got an article to write, plus a new sucker to add to my list!" sneered Tattle-Tale, closing the office door as Snap Happy and Leech left.

"Zzso, Tattle-Tale hazz thingy that only exizztzz to churn out horrible zzstories? Zzseemzz a bit of a pointlezz gizzmo to me." Leech said to Snap Happy as they made their way down the corridor.

"It's a part of the Chronicle I'd rather be without." admitted Snap Happy, somewhat sadly. "But the owners of the paper want it to stay, and so that's how it'll be. Sadly, many of the ponies around here seem to lap this sort of stuff up."

Before sitting down to type his newly-invented gossip article for the coming week, Tattle-Tale levitated a screwdriver from behind his desk, and unscrewed a side panel on his gossip-generating slot machine. Sliding the first drum out, he produced a black marker pen from a nearby desk drawer. Bringing both the drum and the pen up to his face, he added "The Great and Powerful Trixie" to a blank space on the drum before re-installing it into the machine and re-tightening all of the screws.

"Enjoy ya newfound fame, Trixie, cos before I'm done it's gonna turn into infamy!" he said grimly, before turning to his typewriter to fabricate his story of Fleur's outrageous shopping trip.

Chapter 10 - Flashbulbs And Front Pages

The next morning, Canterlot's streets were as busy as ever, with the various members of Equestria's upper classes hustling and bustling around the city, going about their usual daily business. Amid the sea of ponies, many clothed in the very finest quality garments at the cutting edge of fashion, a solitary figure darted through the crowds wearing nothing but a simple black cloak and hood. Its form entirely obscured, save for four ultramarine hooves at the bottom, it weaved and ducked down Canterlot's main street as though it were trying not to be seen.

Peering from beneath the hood, Trixie was careful not to allow anypony else to lock eyes with her, lest her distinctive iris color give away her true identity. Fame had brought with it certain side effects that Trixie had neither wanted nor anticipated, not least a seeming inability to exit her home without attracting a heaving mob of fans asking for autographs or a magic demonstration. Three times she'd attempted to set off for Photo Finish's studio, and three times she'd been forced to retreat back into the apartment complex, hotly pursued by a throng of screaming fans. Only when she'd dyed one of her bedsheets black using her magic and then fashioned it into an all-concealing hood and cloak get-up had she been able to take to the streets unhindered.

"Now Trixie is running late for her photo shoot!" she thought sulkily. "I hope Photo Finish isn't too cross with me! I hear she's NOT a good pony to get on the bad side of!"

Shaking this dreadful thought from her mind, Trixie continued to somewhat shiftily make her way past the packed bistros and busy stores, frequently stopping to take cover behind conveniently placed fences or benches. During these covert stops, she flicked back the hood to allow some of the accumulated heat to dissipate. It was far too hot a day for wearing a full-body hood, and Trixie's nervousness at being discovered only served to increase her body temperature further.

Stealthily crouching down behind a small wall surrounding an al fresco diner's garden, Trixie jerked her head back and allowed the head covering to slip down and rest upon her withers. She wiped her brow using the front of the cloak wrapped around a shaky forehoof, as the nervous tingles that permeated her entire body became more intense the further into the city she delved. If she were to be discovered here, she'd be swamped for the rest of the day - there were simply far too many ponies here for her to handle at once.

"Come on Trixie, focus! The studio's just one block away, and if you hurry you won't be that late!" she told herself, raising her hood once more using her magic.

Her identity safely concealed beneath the dark cloth once again, Trixie rose from her hiding place and strode quickly yet cautiously toward her intended destination.

At the Canterlot Chronicle offices, Leech stood next to Snap Happy's desk. He watched intently as his pegasus employer deftly tapped away at his typewriter using nothing but his hooves. Leech had initially assumed that typewriters would require unicorn magic to type effectively, and was very surprised to witness the ease with which a sufficiently-practiced Earth or pegasus pony could operate one. Of course, typewriters intended for Earth ponies and pegasi were wider, with more sparsely-set keys, but the little changeling nevertheless found Snap's skill both impressive and quite mesmerizing.

"There!" said Snap Happy proudly, finishing his typing. "Today's Chronicle headline story is all done! You did well to find it, Leech. A daring daylight raid in Canterlot's jewellery district... you got an excellent shot of the three culprits shortly before they were caught!"

"Culpritzz?" buzzed Leech, looking confused. "Leech thought he wazz taking picture of zzsilly poniezz drezzed azz zzebrazz, not criminalzz!"

"They were wearing masks and striped sweaters, Leech!" replied Snap Happy with a laugh. "I honestly didn't think crooks were stupid enough to wear those things anymore! Either way, accident or not, it was a great photograph. Well done!"

Leech's chest puffed with pride at being congratulated. It was such an unfamiliar feeling to him, he eagerly savored it whenever it occurred. Studying the first draft of the evening edition's front cover, Leech noticed Fancy Pants among the crowd of shocked onlookers in the background of his photograph. With him, wearing an equally stunned expression, was his wife, Fleur.

"Zzstrange!" muttered Leech thoughtfully, "Fanzzy pony izz with different lady pony than Leech zzsaw him with on Leech'zz firzzt day at work! Leech thought poniezz uzzually only had one companion!"

Snap Happy glanced at the picture, then at Leech, before sighing heavily and reclining back into his seat, closing his eyes as he did so.

"That's correct, Leech." he explained, wearily. "That pony is Fleur, Fancy Pants' wife. The pegasus you saw Fancy with the other day - I've no idea who she was, but Fancy was clearly cheating on his wife with her."

Leech pondered hard - if a stethoscope had been held to his head at that point, the sound of rusted gears squeaking and rattling followed by the gentle tinkle of a five-watt light bulb flickering into illumination would have been heard.

"Izz that why Zzsnap Happy wanted photo of Fanzzy pony with other lady pony?" he asked at last.

"Yes. Yes it was." Snap Happy responded after an awkward pause, his head hanging as he answered.

"Izzn't that a zzscandal like Tattle pony likezz to report on?" Leech enquired, curiously cocking his head as he looked towards Snap Happy. "Leech thought Zzsnap Happy didn't like zzscandalzz."

"I don't!" Snap Happy replied sharply, his tone becoming increasingly defensive. "They're a crass invasion of ponies' privacy! And in the case of Tattle-Tale, they're usually a load of made-up horseapples! At least this one would have been based on truth."

"Izzn't that zzstill..." Leech began.

"Yes, it's still an invasion of privacy and it's still something I'd rather not publish. But... you must understand Leech, my return to this company hasn't been a smooth one. As you know, I've been away for an entire year. Everypony here thought I was dead, and in a sense I was, until you and Trixie rescued me and the others." Snap Happy interrupted, as he poured himself a fresh, steaming mug of coffee.

Leech looked around the room and noted that the other journalists had finished their shifts and had left the office, leaving just him and Snap Happy alone. Satisfied that his employer - and friend - wasn't about to publicly demean himself, he resumed listening as Snap Happy continued his tale.

"Before my capture and transformation at the hooves of Switcher, Tattle-Tale's gossip section was a minority interest. A small column tucked away in the back pages, where few read it and even fewer took heed. After my disappearance, the 'news' aspect of the paper took a nosedive in terms of quality and quantity. To help keep the publication afloat, the publishers turned to Tattle, giving him greater freedoms and more column inches, until eventually he had his own supplement. As his column grew, more and more ponies paid attention to it, and its popularity exploded. Now ponies across Equestria can't get enough of his sleaze and lies - gossip has always been prevalent in pony populations, Canterlot in particular, but Tattle's bile has kicked the whole thing up several notches." Snap Happy explained, followed by yet another heavy sigh and a mournful shake of his head.

"But how doezz printing zzscandal help Zzsnap Happy?" asked Leech.

"I just thought if I could print one decent scandal, something truthful, yet something that could best Tattle and his endless parade of half-truths and blatant lies, the focus would be back on the newspaper rather than the gossip supplement. With the spotlight once again on my side of the publication, I could then set about making the Chronicle all about news once again, and push Tattle's nonsense back into the minority interest, where it belongs." answered Snap Happy in a melancholy tone, opening a drawer in his desk and taking out his trusty bottle of DeGroot-brand rum. "But... I guess going down to Tattle's level will just make me as bad as him, truth or no truth. I guess I'll have to find another way of preventing the Chronicle turning into a vapid gossip magazine."

As if by magic, Tattle-Tale stormed into the room, as though the mere mention of his name had summoned him. However, he had heard nothing of Snap and Leech's conversation, instead fuming to himself as he glared at a scroll he held in front of his eyes with his magic.

"Wouldya believe it?" he announced, to nopony in particular. "Da publishers just sent me a copy a' dis new royal decree about standards a' journalism. Da overall jist a' it is, any stories 'bout other ponies hafta be based on 'substantial evidence' now! What kinda mooks came up wid dis loada nonsense?"

"Most likely the Princesses, so I'd watch who you're calling 'mooks' if I were you, Tattle." Snap Happy answered, a hint of snarkiness present in his voice.

Tattle-Tale looked shocked for a few seconds, before quickly shaking it off and giving Snap Happy a narrow-eyed glare.

"Whatever. Da long an' short a' it is, I'm freakin' ruined if I can't substantiate my works a' genius!" Tattle-Tale snorted.

His eyes turned to Leech, staying there for an uncomfortably long time before he suddenly turned on his hooves and bolted back to his office, leaving a bewildered Leech and Snap Happy behind.

"That wazz... different." Leech said at last, finding his voice.

"Well, Leech - looks as if my little problem just solved itself!" Snap Happy said brightly, putting the bottle of rum back into its drawer without opening it, and merrily guzzling his coffee. "Looks like my letter to the Wisdom brothers paid off! They must have raised the issue with the Princesses during one of their advisory meetings. I genuinely wasn't expecting anything to come of it - now it has, I reckon that's shut old Tattle down on a permanent basis!"

Leech said nothing, instead silently contemplating the way in which Tattle-Tale had looked at him. Somehow, Leech wasn't entirely convinced that this new ruling would mean the end of Tattle-Tale's schemes.

Meanwhile, Trixie's day wasn't going quite as well as she'd hoped. Sure, she'd reached Photo Finish's studio without attracting any undue attention, and Photo Finish herself hadn't been angry about her slight lateness. It had all gone downhill from there, however. From the moment she set hoof into the studio, she had been practically pounced upon by Photo Finish's ever-present army of stylists, designers and make-up artists. Sprays had been sprayed into her mane and combs had whipped it into many strange styles and permutations that Trixie didn't even think were possible. Make-up had been slathered onto her face, then removed, then re-added at Photo Finish's whim.

The blusher was definitely Trixie's least favorite experience of all the cosmetics - the assistant who applied it was far too heavy-snouted with the brush. After the third or fourth application, Trixie began to feel as if she'd been beaten up, not partaken in a supposedly glamorous photoshoot!

Her face and jaw ached from both the repeated make-up applications and the ridiculous facial expressions that Photo Finish demanded of her, including some frankly unnaturally wide smiles. Her limbs ached from being repeatedly dressed and undressed in various garish and uncomfortable outfits that no sane pony would actually consider wearing on a day-to-day basis. Worse yet, the shoot was overrunning, and Trixie wondered if she'd get home in time to prepare for Fancy Pants' arrival that evening.

Her worrying session was interrupted by yet another blinding flash of the camera, a sight that Trixie was rapidly becoming tired of. As she rubbed at her increasingly sore eyes, the bold, brash, dominating voice of Photo Finish harshly invaded her ears once more.

"Good, good!" Photo Finish said to Trixie. "Ve haf time for von more costume change! Zis vill be ze greatest of zem all! Somepony fetch me ze all-black ensemble zat she arrived in! Quickly!" she demanded.

"Wait a mome-" Trixie began to protest, before being cut off by two of Photo Finish's assistants pulling the black hood and cloak over her head.

"Yes!" Photo Finish said approvingly. "Now, it's really time to make... ze magicks!"

"Great." thought Trixie despairingly. "An all-black cloak under baking hot studio lights... I'm definitely going to have to add a shower to my preparations for this evening. And now I'm going to need a new disguise - when these photos are published everypony's going to recognize me in my cloak!"

Photo Finish was oblivious to Trixie's plight however, as she excitedly raced about the studio, rapidly photographing Trixie from every conceivable angle. After what felt to Trixie like an eternity, Photo Finish finally put the camera down and signaled to her assistants to begin packing the studio equipment away.

"Ze magicks, ve haf made zem today my friend!" she gasped dramatically, throwing a hoof around Trixie's withers. "Ve must do zis again soon, ve vill go far together!"

At that particular moment in time, Trixie definitely wanted to go far - as far from the studio as possible! Quickly bidding Photo Finish farewell, she hurriedly trotted towards the exit. Such was her rush to get back and get ready for the coming evening, she wasn't fully paying attention to what she was doing. As she exited the studio, the cool late afternoon air rapidly clearing her lungs of the hairspray and make-up dust that clogged them, Trixie didn't notice the back left corner of her cloak get caught in the studio's exit door.

Only when she felt the tug of the fabric as it reached its maximum stretch did she realize what was happening, and by then it was too late too do anything about it. The thin cloth very quickly gave up its struggle to stay on Trixie's body and, with an attention-drawing ripping sound, the fabric around Trixie's chest tore. The entire cloak flew backwards off of Trixie as the stretched fibers returned to their original length, unveiling the startled showmare beneath. As the entire street momentarily became silent, Trixie had time to utter a mere two words before the inevitable stampede began:

"Oh buck...!"

Chapter 11 - High Society: Act 1

It took quite some time for Trixie to battle her way through her crowds of admirers, and all of her willpower not to use a repulsion spell to toss them out of her way. As annoying as she found the attention (something she never thought would be possible), she also recognized the importance of keeping her fans on her side. Throwing them halfway across the city would probably sway public opinion against her in a very short space of time! Exhausted, bedraggled and irritated, Trixie finally stumbled into her apartment and closed the door behind her, slumping onto the couch with a relieved sigh.

She glanced towards the clock - half past seven. She had just thirty minutes to get ready for Fancy Pants' arrival, but all she really wanted to do was curl up with a nice cup of cocoa and have a nap! Summoning what little strength remained in her aching legs and what little inclination remained in her heart, she dragged herself to her hooves and slowly trudged to the bathroom to begin preparing for her evening, starting with a shower. As she made her way across the apartment, she nonchalantly opened the balcony doors with her magic - Leech would be home soon, and Trixie wasn't sure how many more impacts with the glass doors his cranium would withstand!

Sure enough, Leech buzzed his way through the fading evening light, the cool breeze flowing over his chitinous shell as he made his way towards his intended destination; home. Launching into a steep downwards dive towards the balcony, Leech hurtled closer and closer to the apartment complex before, unusually, applying reverse thrust and touching down gently on the balcony.

"Leech izz not zzstupid!" he thought out loud. "Leech divezz down, goezz zzsplat into doorzz! Thizz time, Leech izz ready!"

With this, Leech smugly trotted up to the doors, before rearing up onto his hind legs and giving a great push with his forehooves. Unfortunately for Leech, the door he had been intending to push was already open, and Leech only realized this when it was too late. He overbalanced and fell forwards, unable to lower his front legs in time to avoid stumbling awkwardly through the door and landing flat on his snout.

"Why univerzze hate Leech?" he mused sadly, sitting up and rubbing his face.

"Leech, is that you?" called Trixie from the bathroom.

"Yezz, Leech izz home!" Leech called, cheering up and forgetting about his sore snout. "How did Trixzzie's photo thingy go?"

Trixie emerged from the bathroom, a cloud of steam bursting forth from behind the door as she cantered into the room and towels wrapped around her mane and tail.

"Ugh... don't even ask!" she answered, rolling her eyes. "It's been a long day!"

"Aww, that izz shame. Izz Trixzzie ready for big evening out at Cazztle?" Leech asked.

"As soon as I'm dry and in my best cloak, I will be!" Trixie replied. "It'll be good to have a bit of down-time before my next show."

"When izz nexzzt show?" Leech enquired, suddenly feeling a little uneasy. "If Leech rememberzz right, your nexzzt show izz..."

"...Ten thirty. TONIGHT." Trixie gasped in horror, her face becoming pale and her pupils tiny. "Leech, I've double-booked myself! What can I do? This is a disaster! I can't cancel my show, Class Act will withdraw my contract! But I can't afford to miss this dinner evening either, I need to get myself in with Canterlot's social elite!"

"It'zz OK, dinner thingy finishezz at ten!" Leech interjected. "Trixzzie can get to cabaret in that time!"

"Yes, but I'll need at least an hour to... how shall we say... enhance my act." Trixie wailed, a spark of green magic shooting from her horn.

"Mmm... if only there wazz more Trixxzie to go around. Leech hearzz legend about zzsomething called the Mirror Pond? Maybe we could uzze that!" Leech replied, thoughtfully.

"We haven't got time to go hunting for something for something that may or may not exist! Besides, there's only room in Equestria for ONE Great and Powerful Trixie! But... you've given me an idea. Leech, make sure you're outside the castle entrance by nine thirty sharp!" Trixie said, her melancholy tone giving way to excitement accompanied by a devilish grin.

She promptly finished drying herself and cast the towels aside. Glancing at the clock, she noted that Fancy Pants would be arriving imminently.

"Trixzzie hazz planzz?" Leech asked.

"I certainly do! Now, if you'll excuse me... I have a carriage to catch!" announced Trixie, quickly levitating her best evening cape over from her bedroom, draping it over her back and fastening it around her neck. "Remember Leech - nine thirty! See you later!"

As the carriage rolled through the streets of Canterlot, Trixie gazed outside at the scenery as it glided past and at all Canterlot's ponies milling around the streets, blissfully unaware of who was inside the carriage that passed them by. She was thankful for the carriage's windows being made from tinted privacy glass - she'd had enough rabid admirers for one day! Feeling the rumble of the wheels beneath her and the gentle swaying of the carriage moving from side-to-side, her mind was suddenly cast back to the days where Leech would haul her along in her wagon. Her moment of reminiscence was interrupted by Fancy Pants, who was sitting opposite her.

"So, Ms Lulamoon," he ventured confidently, "how are you finding your stay in Canterlot so far?"

"Oh it's... lovely. Everything I dreamed of, plus a lot I hadn't bargained for!" Trixie replied, trying to hide her tiredness and her trepidation at what the evening would hold.

"I hear you've got a show to perform immediately after our dinner party. I admire your commitment to your work! I definitely like commitment in a mare." Fancy Pants continued, giving a wink to Trixie as he finished.

"Oh... um... thank you. Yes, I definitely like to be committed to my chosen profession! After all, I'd be foolish not to, since it's perfect for me! Or rather, I'm perfect for it!" Trixie answered, her confidence returning a little.

"That's the ticket! I'm certain with an attitude like that, you'll fit in perfectly tonight. We'll be sharing a table with all manner of high-society go-getters! I'm certain you'll be the talk of the banquet - you're Canterlot's hottest new celebrity and of course, you're my guest!" said Fancy Pants.

"Sheesh. And I thought I had an ego..." murmured Trixie under her breath.

"What was that?" asked Fancy Pants.

"Oh, I-I-I er, was asking h-how much further we had to g-go." Trixie stammered in shock.

"We're just making our way through the castle gates now. We'll be disembarking soon." answered Fancy Pants smoothly.

A minute or two later, the carriage gently bumped to a stop and a royal Earth pony guard, dressed in a valet uniform, opened the carriage door and bowed his head as Fancy Pants and his new favorite party guest made their way through the castle's grand entryway.

Before long, Trixie found herself seated beside Fancy Pants at a colossal dining table, which stretched for several yards down the center of a huge dining hall. Velvet banners bearing the royal crest dangled from the room's magnificent ceiling arches, illuminated by the glow of ornate silver lanterns attached to the many support pillars that ran then length of the room. The soft ambient music of a harpist and cellist could be heard amid the hustling and bustling of the various waiters and serving staff moving around. Trixie looked up and down the table - all of Canterlot's movers and shakers were present. From fashionistas such as Hoity Toity and distant royalty like Prince Blueblood, to global superstars including Sapphire Shores and successful business magnates like Filthy Rich. Trixie's nervousness increased again - not due to her (much deserved) presence among such company, but due to the plan she'd conceived to alleviate the double-booking situation.

Her attention was soon drawn to the waiters bringing out the food - at first glance, it appeared to be a simple dish of a carrot soup starter with a clover and hay baguette as the main. However, by the time the waiter had finished explaining about how the carrots were hoof-selected, imported carrots from halfway across the globe and that the baguette was home-made using only the most expensive ingredients, Trixie couldn't care less what it was. She was starving, and desperate to dig in! Eagerly levitating a spoon from the table, ready to demolish her carrot soup, Trixie stopped when she noticed several of her fellow guests giving her quizzical stares.

"Trixie my dear," whispered Fancy Pants, leaning over to her, "that's your dessert spoon. Your soup spoon's the one on the right."

"Right. Of course, Trixie was just testing you all!" Trixie blurted out, attempting to hide her embarrassment and levitating the correct spoon.

"Bah, a spoon's a spoon! It holds stuff long enough for you to eat it! Who the buck cares what its designation is?" thought Trixie, although she wisely chose not to raise the point out loud.

After the starters were gone and all present were busy devouring their main courses, Trixie was feeling more comfortable. She'd avoided any more etiquette gaffes, and had been making pleasant small talk with the other ponies at the table. Just as Fancy Pants had predicted, all attention was on her for much of the banquet, and Trixie had enjoyed answering the others' questions regarding her act and her new-found stardom.

"I was there when when you made your debut." said Sapphire Shores, admiringly. "And I gotta say, Trixie, you were sen-sation-al! Say, when I go on my tour next year, I'm gonna give serious consideration to making you my support act!"

"Wow! I'd definitely accept such an honor if it were offered to me!" replied Trixie, a mixture of surprise and shock in her voice.

"Support act? Ha! Honey, this time next year YOU'LL be supporting ME!" she thought, again making the decision not to speak out loud.

"A tour sounds great - myself and Leech would love to go travelling again!" Trixie continued, maintaining her veneer of politeness. "It's one aspect of our old lifestyle I liked, and Leech especially misses it!"

The other guests looked towards each other uncomfortably before all eyes turned back to Trixie. Hoity Toity broke the brief awkward silence that followed.

"Trixie, darling, let me give you possibly the most valuable piece of career advice anypony will ever give you. For Celestia's sake, ditch that cretinous little bug friend of yours!" he said, turning his nose up as he finished the sentence.

"But Leech is..." Trixie tried to counter.

"Leech is a changeling. It's really not good for your image. Do you think my empire would have gotten anywhere if I started employing dangerous feral species?" interrupted Filthy Rich. "In my line of work, image and reputation are everything. If your associates are of ill-repute, some of that ill-repute will rub off on you. Imagine if I'd opened my first store with a manticore stacking the shelves!"

Filthy Rich's quip had everypony at the table in stitches, their laughter attacking Trixie from all sides like a swarm of invisible hornets, their barbs stinging her in places that real hornets could never reach. Fancy Pants, noticing Trixie's crestfallen expression and increasingly red cheeks, stifled his own sniggers and spoke up.

"That's quite enough." he said, calmly but firmly. "I'm certain Trixie knows what she's doing in regard to the company she keeps. Any future decisions she makes, whether we agree with them or not, will undoubtedly be the correct ones."

The other ponies at the table quickly subsided and went back to conversing among themselves as they polished off the remainder of their main courses. Trixie said nothing, and instead looked towards a nearby clock. Nine-twenty-five. Close enough.

"Excuse me, everypony." she said, hopping down from her seat. "I need to go and powder my Great and Powerful nose!"

Trixie cantered casually to the door of the dining hall and slipped out, bursting into a gallop as soon as she was sure nopony else could see her. Her hooves clacked on the castle's polished floors as she raced to find the exit. She was having serious doubts about her plan, given the nature of the conversation that had just taken place, but it was too late to back out now. She had to make this work.

Emerging from the castle, Trixie looked frantically about the moonlit gardens. To her relief, Leech had shown up just as he's promised too. Trixie gently trotted over to her friend, who was facing in the opposite direction, and tapped a hoof on his withers.

"BLAAGH!" yelled Leech, quickly spinning 180 degrees to face Trixie. "Trixzzie, don't zzsneak up on Leech like that!"

"Sssssh!" Trixie hissed, putting a hoof to Leech's mouth. "I'm sorry, but we have to keep quiet! Nopony can know you're here!"

"Zzso what izz Trixzzie's plan to make banquet and show run zzsmoothly?" asked Leech as Trixie retracted her hoof.

"You are to take my place at the banquet." Trixie sighed, the words sticking uncomfortably in her throat. "You take my form, and then head back in there for the final half-hour of the banquet. As soon as it finishes, get away as fast as you can and return to the apartment. Under no circumstances allow anypony to accompany you home!"

"Leech cannot keep company with Canterlot poniezz, Leech knowzz nothing about culture! Leech can barely fly zzstraight, never mind make zzsmall talk with important poniezz!" gasped Leech, mortified at the prospect.

"Leech, I'm not thrilled at the idea either. But it's the only way! Please!" she implored, giving Leech her best puppy-dog-eyed look.

"Leech... will try." conceded Leech, unable to forsake his friend like this.

In a puff of green plasma, Leech quickly transmogrified himself into a near-perfect double of his friend, save for a chipped tooth on the left side of his mouth. Trixie removed her evening cape from her own body and levitated it over to the disguised Leech, draping it over his back and fastening it around his neck.

"You'll do." she said, stepping back to admire her new duplicate. "Just don't smile wide enough for anyone to see that tooth, and try not to get involved in any intelligent discussion. Just nod and agree with what everypony else says and if they ask, you're feeling a little unwell. That's why you're not saying much. Got it?"

"Got it." replied Leech, "But Leech hopezz Trixzzie knowzz what she izz doing!"

"That makes two of us. Good luck!" replied Trixie, turning and galloping out of the castle gardens and into Canterlot's darkened streets, hoping to find some decent tricks to use for her show.

Gulping hard, Leech turned on his hooves and slowly began to trot into the castle, his body tingling with nervousness and his mind repeatedly telling him;

"Thizz... will not end well."

Chapter 12 - High Society: Act 2

The substitute 'Trixie' cautiously paced through the castle's softly illuminated corridors, not entirely sure where 'she' was going. Leech began to wish he'd remembered to ask Trixie which way the dining hall was, but the shock of having such an outlandish scheme foisted upon him made his mind go blank.

"Let'zz zzsee... dining hall meanzz food. Food hazz zzsmellzz. All Leech needzz to do izz follow deliciouzz zzsmellzz." he thought, quite pleased at the speed with which he concocted a workable strategy.

Raising his nose into the air, Leech's nostrils soon became filled with the most appetizing aroma he'd ever come across. He wasted no time in following the tempting fragrance, his cautious trot turning into a crazed gallop as he attempted to find the source of the promising scent. He wasn't just interested in finding the dining hall now, he wanted to sample whatever was giving off such an incredible smell!

Leech rocketed past marble pillars, and raced around corridor corners, all the while getting further and further away from the actual location of the dining hall. Leech neither knew of or cared about this, however, as the sensation in his nostrils drove him to find whatever was causing it. Several minutes later, the olfactory trail led him to an impressive set of doors in a dead-end corridor, in a far corner of the castle. Pressing his snout against the door, Leech breathed in deeply and nearly fainted from the unmistakable scent of extremely high-grade food. Wasting no further time, Leech eagerly pushed open the door to discover that the room wasn't quite as he'd expected.

Most notably, the lights were turned off. This wasn't so much of a problem for Leech - as a maintenance drone, his eyes were adapted for work in low-light conditions, which gave them their green coloration. Peering through the blackness, Leech could see that there was no dining table or chairs - most unusual, for a dining hall. In fact the only major piece of furniture was what appeared to be... a bed? A bed with two silhouettes atop it, somewhat familiar silhouettes engaging in some sort of.. play fighting?

"What zzsort of dining hall izz thizz?" wondered Leech, "The food zzsmellzz great, but..."

Leech's thought processes stopped dead as the five-watt light bulb inside his head once again flickered into life. He'd been so distracted with locating the source of the smell, he hadn't stopped to consider that his own sense of smell differed from that of a pony. What smelt delicious to him might not smell so good to a pony, and vice-versa. The food he could smell was, in fact, very highly concentrated love, and NOT pony-type food. Catching the scent of it had caused him to momentarily forget he was meant to be acting as a pony, and instead rely on his changeling-senses to locate nourishment. So instead of the dining hall, he had in fact been led to...

...Shining Armor and Cadence's bedchamber.

Right in the middle of them producing a buck-ton of ultra-potency changeling chow.

Leech continued to stand in stunned silence, contemplating the magnitude of his folly whilst fervently hoping that the preoccupied lovebirds couldn't see him - or rather, Trixie - in the room's scant illimunation. A hope that was very quickly shattered, as the 'play fighting' shapes atop the bed suddenly ceased to move.

"Shining!" came an urgent whisper through the dark. "Look! The door's ajar! Somepony's in the room!"

What followed was possibly the setting of the new Canterlot land speed record, as the pretend Trixie shot out of the room as though he'd been launched from a party cannon, hoping he could lose his pursuer before he had a chance to get his bearings and turn the lights on. Leech became a blue-coated, adrenaline-charged blur as he thundered through the labyrinth of pristine corridors that comprised the castle. Not far behind, he could hear the clacking of hooves angrily pounding against the polished floors as Shining Armor attempted to apprehend the uninvited intimacy invader.

"Leech izz dizzguizzed azz Trixzzie!" he thought, horrified. "Room wazz dark, zzso Leech hazzn't been zzeen yet. But if Armor pony catchezz up and catchezz glimpzze of Leech, Trixzzie'zz dreamzz are over!"

Summoning every milligram of strategy and cunning his fear addled brain could muster, Leech took cover in an alcove and quickly altered his form to resemble a royal unicorn guard. Using his magic, he hurriedly removed Trixie's best evening cloak and stuffed it into a nearby pot-plant, covering it over in a thin layer of soil. Just as he had finished, the fuming Shining Armor came roaring around a corner and approached him.

"You there! Guard! Tell me, has a pony run through here just now?" he asked the 'guard', panting with both exhaustion and fury as he did so.

"What did this pony look like, Armor pon- I mean, sir?" stuttered the 'guard', awkwardly.

"I don't know, I only got a fleeting glance, and it was dark. Could be anypony, I just wondered if you'd seen any suspiciously behaving ponies in the last couple of minutes." Shining Armor explained, calming himself a little.

"I'm afraid not, but Lee- erm... that is, I will put out a security alert at once." promised Leech, becoming more nervous the longer the conversation continued.

"Good, thank you. Good evening to you." Shining Armor said briskly, turning on his hooves and trotting at a more serene pace back to his bedchamber, to comfort his wife.

Breathing a massive sigh of relief that Shining Armor was gone, and feeling his legs become weak as the adrenal rush fizzled out, Leech coated himself in green flame and re-emerged as Trixie once again. Digging the cape out from the plant pot, he hastily fastened the now creased and filthy piece of cloth around his neck. Satisfied with the cloak despite it sitting much too far to the left on his flank, he renewed his attempts to find the dining hall.

"Trixie! Where have you been, and what happened to your cloak?" asked Fancy Pants as 'Trixie' finally made her way back to the table. "You've been gone for a full fifteen minutes! You've missed dessert!"

"Trixie is sorry," said Leech, disappointed that the actual food didn't smell anywhere near as good as high-grade love, "but Trixie isn't feeling too well. Trixie went for a short stroll in the gardens, and Trixie's cloak fell off into a patch of mud."

"Ah, I see." Fancy Pants responded, nodding his head. "I must say, you don't sound too well either, your voice sounds... different somehow."

"Well, Leech has a sore throat, you see and-" Leech gasped as he clasped a hoof to his mouth, realizing he'd used his own name whilst disguised.

"Ah, and he's passed it onto you." interjected Hoity Toity. "Typical vermin species, bringing their diseases into our fine city. Another reason why you should dump that undignified gutter trash where it belongs!"

Leech felt relieved that his slip-up hadn't raised any suspicion. Relief that very quickly gave way to shock and indignation.

"Vermin zzspeciezz?" He thought crossly. "The nerve of zzsome poniezz. Zzspeciezz izz no reazzon for Trixzzie to... wait a moment. Did he zzsay zzsomething about Trixzzie getting rid of Leech?"

Leech's moment of somber contemplation quickly ended as his attention was drawn by a turquoise hoof waving at him from further down the table. Looking down the lengthy line of seated ponies, he could see the hoof was attached to Photo Finish. One of her entourage stood behind her, feeding her the last remnants of her dessert. After she had finished chewing on last morsels of the apple meringue, Photo Finish addressed what she believed to be Trixie.

"Ze photos zat ve so beautifully crafted zis morning shall be ready to publish tomorrow. Soon, Trixie vill be ze most magical pony on ze catvalk as vell as ze stage!" she announced, grandly.

"Oh, that's nice, Trixie guesses." Leech fumbled, attempting to sound interested.

"Tell me, Trixie," continued Photo Finish, "vhat vas your favorite ensemble of ze day?"

"Why didn't Leech azzk Trixzzie about Trixzzie'zz day in more detail?!" Leech thought, his mind a blur again as he searched for an answer.

"Well... er.... Trixie liked them all!" Leech beamed, settling on the most vague answer he thought he could get away with.

"Come now, do not sit upon ze fence! Ve haf a promising future ahead of us, but I need... ze feedbacks!" insisted Photo Finish.

"Ugh... aah... the all-black one?" Leech said, thinking of the monochrome chitin armor he wore day in, day out.

"Zzstupid anzzwer, zzstupid anzzwer..." he thought, sure he'd blown his cover.

"Ah, excellent" gasped Photo Finish, dramatically. "Ze all-black cloak vas my favorite too. Ve shall definitely be using it again in your next shoot - together, ve shall claim black cloaks back from ze territory of shady travelers and ze Pale Pony of Death!"

"I must remind myself to get my designers working on black cloaks - I've got a feeling they're going to be big news, very soon!" Hoity Toity added excitedly, a pen clasped between his teeth as he jotted a note onto a small notepad.

'Trixie' sighed once more as he slid back into his seat, the adrenaline surge once again subsiding. He didn't know exactly how many more lucky guesses would get him out of trouble, and he had no intention of staying around long enough to find out! Looking at the clock, Leech was overjoyed to see that it had just gone ten o'clock - the banquet would be drawing to a close very shortly, and Leech saw no harm in leaving fashionably early!

"Well, it's been very nice meeting you all." he said abruptly, imitating Trixie's voice as best he could. "But Trixie really must be going now. Trixie has a show very soon, and must get the cabaret!"

"Please," said Fancy Pants, standing up also. "Allow me to give you a ride in my carriage."

"NO!" Leech quickly responded, remembering Trixie's instructions and taking Fancy Pants aback.

"Well, at least let me walk you to the gates." Fancy Pants offered, recovering from the surprise.

"Trixie thinks that'll be OK..." Leech muttered with a forced smile, somewhat flustered as he tried not to arouse any further suspicion.

After bidding good night to the other guests, Leech and the still mercifully unaware Fancy Pants made their way out of the lantern-lit halls of the castle and emerged into the serene glow of Luna's moonlit night. As the two made their away across the gardens, the only sounds being the gentle rustle of the grass beneath their hooves and the chirping of crickets, Fancy Pants turned to 'Trixie' and smiled.

"They loved you tonight." he began, kindly. "You're definitely a worthy party guest. Trixie... I have a proposition for you."

"Awkward... awkward... AWKWARD!" Leech thought frantically.

"As it happens, I'm on the organization committee for the Grand Galloping Gala, which takes place next week. Do you have a ticket?" he asked, leaving Leech somewhat relieved that it wasn't the kind of 'proposition' he'd been afraid of.

"Umm... no?" Leech replied uncertainly, not entirely sure whether Trixie had a ticket or not.

"Well, good. I've pulled some strings, and I've managed to get you booked to play the main stage at the Gala! The cabaret will seem like a mere sideshow when you've played to a Gala audience!" Fancy Pants said. "So Trixie - do you accept?"

"Oh, yes!" gasped Leech, unable to believe what he was hearing.

"Trixzzie will be zzso pleazzed with Leech!" he thought, his excitement causing him to involuntarily bounce on the spot.

"Excellent, that's what I like to see!" Fancy Pants said with a grin. "And Trixie... good luck with your show tonight! I shall see you at next week's Gala. Goodnight!"

Leech said his (or rather, Trixie's) goodbyes to Fancy Pants, and hurried away into the lantern-lit streets of Canterlot. He felt much better to be out of the gaze of Canterlot's social elite, and began to search for a place where he could switch back to his usual changeling self. Trixie's show would be starting very soon, so he couldn't afford to let anypony see him roaming the streets as her - this would only lead to confusion and suspicion as to how she could be in two places at once! Noticing a nice, dark, alleyway tucked between two buildings, Leech darted down it. Not bothering to check the area around him, confident that he was totally shrouded in the darkness of the alley, he deftly shed his counterfeit Trixie exterior and revealed his true changeling form.

After the green flames had died down, Leech stood still for a few seconds - he suddenly had a strange feeling he'd seen a series of white flashes accompanying the usual green one that occurred during his transformations.

"Probably juzzt zzstrezz. Trixzzie owezz Leech for thizz evening!" he thought, shrugging the nagging feeling off and happily trotting back to the apartment. "Zzstupid posh poniezz! Trixzzie would never get rid of Leech, ezzpecially now Leech hazz landed biggest gig of Trixzzie's life for her!"

Some time later, as the clock tower in Canterlot's main street chimed midnight, Leech lay on the couch in the apartment and gazed up at the ceiling. Despite his success in securing what would surely be the performance that would firmly place Trixie in the ranks of Canterlot legend, he was troubled by what he'd heard during the dinner. What if Trixie DID want to send him away? What if he was a hindrance to her? Was that why she didn't help him during the conflict with Blueblood in the store? Does she even need an assistant now?

Presently, he heard the front door swing open, and he quickly derailed his train of troubled thoughts as he leapt to his hooves.

"Trixzzie!" he said gleefully. "Trixzzie izz home! How did show go?"

Trixie said nothing. She merely shuffled over to the couch with her head held low and her eyes closed. She silently hauled herself onto the couch's cushioning softness and buried her face in her hooves.

"What'zz wrong, Trixzzie? Did poniezz not like Trixzzie'zz show? Tell Leech who poniezz were, Leech will show them!" said Leech boldly, standing on his hind legs and boxing the air in front of him with his forehooves.

Trixie looked up, her mouth turned into a slight smile at Leech's antics, but her eyes still a picture of sorrow.

"No, Leech, it's nothing like that. The show was a great success." she said softly. "I managed to snag three decent tricks before the show, and perform them all without a hitch."

"Then why izz Trixzzie zzsad?" asked Leech, not fully understanding.

"It seems that I only had a finite amount of changeling magic infused with my own. After finishing the show tonight, my horn felt... different. Or rather, it felt the same as it did prior to my brief stint as a changeling hybrid. On my way home, I tried to duplicate some ponies' talents, just to make sure I still could. But I can't. I burnt through the last of my leftover changeling magic in tonight's show." she explained, her voice wavering slightly.

"Zzso thizz meanzz..." gasped Leech.

"Yes, Leech. I now only have my own magic and my sleight-of-hoof tricks to rely on once again. There's little hope that I can learn any advanced tricks properly in time for my next show, so unless I find a new way to augment my own power in the next two weeks, I'm finished!" Trixie continued, ending her mournful monologue with a defeated sigh.

"Two weekzz..?" enquired Leech.

"Yes, my next show is in two weeks. It's very fortunate I don't have any important shows between now and then - if I practice very hard, I might be able to perform a passable Prismatic Orb Shower under my own steam."

"Erm... Trixzzie. About that timezzscale. It'zz a funny zzstory, really..." began Leech, who would have been sweating if changelings had sweat glands. "Grand Galloping Gala izz next week... and Fanzzy Pantzz helpzz run it."

"Yeah? So?" replied Trixie, looking confused.

"He azzked Leech... or rather Trixzzie... to be main zzstage act. And... well... Leech zzsort of zzsaid 'yezz' on Trixzzie'zz behalf..."

The comforting blanket of silence and peace that had descended over Canterlot for the night was suddenly pierced by the shrill, incensed scream of a stressed-out unicorn whose day had just gotten a whole lot worse.

"YOU. DID. WHAAAAAAAAT?!"

Chapter 13 - Books and Blackmail

Leech peered over the back of the couch as the snarling Trixie stood before him, her body trembling with indescribable rage.

"I. Told. You. NOT TO ENGAGE IN ANY DISCUSSIONS!" she roared, causing Leech's head to vanish as he ducked down behind the couch.

"But...b-but Leech wazz trying to help Trixzzie! Leech thought..." Leech began.

"Leech thought? Leech THOUGHT? My hat does more thinking than you!" came the furious reply from Trixie, who didn't even wait for Leech to finish. "I distinctly told you not to enter any discussions - much less agree to anything on my behalf!"

Leech said nothing, but instead curled into an even tighter ball on the floor between the couch and the wall. Trixie began to pace up and down the lounge, talking out loud to herself.

"Right, so the Gala is next week... I don't even have time to learn ONE decent trick in that time, never mind enough to impress a Gala audience! OK... so... what am I doing tomorrow? Shopping in the morning, officially opening another coffee house that Canterlot doesn't really need in the afternoon... so tomorrow evening should be free. I'll just go along to Fancy's place tomorrow evening and explain that I can't attend the Gala. Then... t-then..." Trixie's voice trailed off.

Leech cautiously poked his head back above the couch. He looked across to where Trixie stood to see the bold, overconfident showmare weeping like a filly. Surprised by what he was seeing, Leech forgot to be scared and trotted over to his friend, placing a hoof on her withers.

"What'zz the matter, Trixzzie?" he asked gently.

"This whole 'fame' thing, Leech - it's really not going the way I'd planned." Trixie replied between sobs. "I used to love it when everypony's eyes were on me... but I could always get away from it. Ponies would come, see our shows, be amazed, then they'd go home. Then we'd move on and there would be a whole new set of ponies to dazzle with my amazing presence. But here - there's no getting away from it. Everypony wants a piece of me, all of the time. I can't go anywhere, do anything without being watched. The slightest mess-up will ruin my reputation beyond redemption... and I've made the biggest mess-up of all. I've climbed to fame based on a lie, a lie which is going to be discovered very soon!"

With this, Trixie burst into another round of crying, covering her eyes with a front hoof and her body shaking as she released her pent-up sorrows.

"But Fanzzy Pantzz and other poniezz here are famouzz, they don't have thizz zzsort of problem." Leech responded, doing his best to calm the hysterical unicorn. "Not uzzually anyway, only real problem for them izz zzstupid flank-hole Tattle-Tale."

Trixie perked up slightly at hearing this.

"You may well have a point, Leech." she conceded, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I just need to get through this first phase before I can really reap the benefits. Perhaps the ponies here will calm down once I'm a little more established... you know, omelettes and eggs and all that."

"Izz pazzt midnight, not time to be thinking of breakfazzt!" Leech said, looking confused.

"It's a figure of speech!" replied Trixie, her smile returning as she wiped the remainder of her tears away. "You can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs. It means that for something good to happen, sometimes you have to put up with some bad stuff first!"

"That makezz zzenzze... Leech guezzezz..." replied Leech, uncertainly.

Although Trixie knew this new approach still wouldn't solve her magic problem, it was a start. She decided to cancel her Gala appearance, and then see what happened from there. Both she and Leech were tired by this point, and after Trixie had calmed herself sufficiently, both bid each other goodnight. Leech trotted off to his basket and Trixie retreated to the bedroom. Before retiring for the night, Trixie apologized to Leech for yelling at him - the little changeling, fortunately, accepted. Despite this, Trixie couldn't shake the feeling that the damage she had done ran deeper than Leech was letting on. She knew deep down that his heart had been in the right place, and more than anything else she should count herself lucky she had a friend so eager to help her reach her goals.

"It'zz juzzt zzstrezz of fame... she doezzn't want rid of Leech." Leech thought as he fell asleep. "...Leech hopezz, anyway..."

The next morning, Trixie was attempting to covertly make her way through town, this time dressed in a ridiculous get-up of a cloak and hood made from a flowery tablecloth. She'd attempted to leave the apartment using her black cloak, but as she'd feared Photo Finish's photos had been published so everypony recognized her wearing it. Some even sported black, hooded capes of their own! As stupid as she felt, the floral cloth she wore was anything but befitting of a superstar pony such as herself, so nopony figured it was her under there.

Nopony, that is, except for one.

As Trixie hurried along the cobbled streets, she was stopped by a beige unicorn standing in front of her. Possessing a heavily waxed or possibly gelled gray mane, and a cutie mark which appeared to be a ball of dung with bovine horns sticking out from the top, the unicorn spoke to Trixie in a distinctly out-of-town accent.

"You's can't fool me wid dat hood. You's da great an' powerful Trixie!" said Tattle-Tale with a smirk.

"Not so loud! I don't want everypony to know!" whispered Trixie fiercely to the pony obstructing her path.

"Da word is dat you're gonna be doin' a big, fancy show at da Gala next week!" continued Tattle-Tale, ignoring Trixie's protests.

"Actually no, I'm afraid I'm going to be cancelling that, I'll be speaking to Fancy Pants about it this evening. Now if you'll excuse me, I have places to be!" answered Trixie before bursting into a gallop and running past Tattle-Tale.

Trixie, despite having heard of Tattle-Tale from Leech, had never met him before and thus didn't know what the treacherous journalist looked like. As a result, Trixie had no concept of what she'd just done as she hurtled away down the busy streets towards her intended destination.

"Have a nice day, ma'am!" sniggered Tattle-Tale under his breath. "Cos yer evenin's gonna be awful!"

The rest of Trixie's day went without a hitch. She was able to shop without being disturbed, thanks to her humiliating yet highly effective disguise, successfully gathering all the provisions she and Leech would need for the coming week. Then she headed over to the newest outlet of Star-Bucks coffee, shedding her disguise for a short while to cut the ribbon and declare the place officially open. She'd declined a complementary cup of their new quintuple strength espresso, citing the fact that she planned on sleeping at some point during the next three weeks. After successfully eluding the crowd of ponies at the coffee shop long enough to re-don her disguise, Trixie was finally heading back to the apartment. She planned to stop off and change her clothes before going to meet Fancy Pants. She couldn't let such a high profile stallion see her dressed in such a strange fashion, after all!

As she approached the building, however, a crowd of anxious-looking ponies milled around outside, occasionally glimpsing up at Trixie's balcony as a couple of Royal Guards struggled to hold the heaving mass of ponies back. Sneaking around the mob, Trixie stealthily made her way into the apartment complex's front door and ascended the stairs to her own apartment. Pushing open the door, she was greeted by a visibly distressed Leech.

"Trixzzie! Zzsomething awful hazz happened! Look at thizz!" he cried, thrusting the latest pull-out issue of 'Tattle-Tale's Gossip Corner' under Trixie's snout.

Trixie levitated the document in front of her, her eyes widening and jaw opening in horror as she took in the words before her.

The Great And Powerful Quitsie!

Canterlot's latest superstar bails on Grand Galloping Gala gig!

Latest rumor suggests 'magician' is doubtful she's got what it takes. More inside!

Trixie stood for several minutes in a stunned silence, oblivious to the increasingly rowdy crowd of ponies outside, all clamoring to find out if the contents of the gossip paper were the truth. Snapping out of her trance, Trixie realized that the pony she ran into that morning must have been Tattle-Tale himself.

"Of course. The cutie mark should have made it obvious!" she thought, rolling her eyes.

"What izz Trixzzie going to do? Not enough magic powerzz to do Gala show, but now everypony knowzz about it! If Trixzzie backzz out..." began Leech, worriedly.

"...then my reputation's down the proverbial drain." finished Trixie, grimly.

Staring at the floor for a few moments before briefly glimpsing towards Leech, Trixie's face took on a look of grim determination as she strode boldly out onto the balcony. She looked down at the crowd of ponies below, who immediately began showering her with questions.

"Is it true?"

"Are you really booked to play the Gala?"

"Why are you backing out? Are you ill?"

"Can I have a large apple pie with a glass of OJ please? Oh sorry, I'm in the wrong place."

"What are you hiding?"

"Settle down, settle down!" called Trixie to the crowd below, who kept shouting and questioning regardless. "CALM DOWN, all of you!" she yelled, summoning a small flash of lightning with her own magic to help make her point.

The little thunderstorm had its desired effect, and most of the crowd backed down, waiting for Trixie to give her explanation. Looking skyward for a few moments, drawing a deep breath and putting on her stage persona, Trixie spoke.

"My fellow ponies! It is indeed true that The Great and Powerful Trixie is booked to astound any of you fortunate enough to be at next week's Gala! And what is more, the publishers of this... document... seem to have made an error! Trixie will be there, and she highly recommends YOU be there too!" she bellowed, before turning impressively and teleporting off the balcony in a puff of purple smoke.

Rematerializing inside the apartment and using her horn to shut the doors, Trixie heard the crowd's cheers for a short while, gradually dwindling as the sated ponies began to disperse. Trixie stood, her head hanging, as a stunned Leech approached her.

"But Trixzzie! How do you plan to do Gala show without better magiczz than Trixzzie'zz own?" he asked. "Not that Trixzzie'zz natural magiczz are bad of courzze, but...um...er..."

"It's OK Leech, I understand what you mean." Trixie replied after a short silence. "The answer is - it's time for Plan B!"

"There'zz a Plan B?" asked Leech.

"Indeed. Leech, I'm going out for a short while. I'll be at Canterlot Castle library if you need me. Meanwhile if you see that Tattle-Tale pass by, tell him he's messed with the wrong pony!" she ordered, before donning her floral disguise and dashing from the apartment.

"Leech will do better than that..." Leech whispered darkly, waiting until Trixie was gone before pushing the balcony doors open and taking to the mauve evening skies.

A short flight and a shorter sprint across Canterlot soon brought Leech to his destination - the Canterlot Chronicle offices. He knew Tattle-Tale often worked late, so was fairly certain the vile unicorn would still be in his office. Standing outside the building, rapidly inhaling and exhaling to get himself suitably hyped-up, Leech burst through the front door and flew straight up the stairwell. Landing when he reached the correct floor, he hurtled down a corridor and stopped for a few seconds outside Tattle-Tale's office. Just as he prepared to buck the door open, Leech's berseker rage was swiftly interrupted by the door being opened by unicorn magic. Tattle-Tale sat smugly at his desk, his horn's glow fading as he finished opening the door.

"Took ya longer dan I expected!" he said to Leech. "Come on in!"

"Don't act friendly with Leech!" spat the incensed changeling, storming into the office.

"Let me guess, you've come here ta clean my clock?" sneered Tattle-Tale.

"Leech doezzn't care how dirty Tattle-Tale'zz clock izz!" growled Leech, looking at the clock on the office wall. "Yezz, it could do with a duzzting, but Leech izz hear to teach Tattle zzsome rezzpect! You zzspread falzze rumor about Trixzzie!"

"Yup. An' I can do a buckload more dan dat if I feel like it! Dat little article was a warnin' shot, just ta show ya I'm not foolin' around! Take a look-see at dese!" continued Tattle-Tale, levitating a ream of photographs from a nearby drawer and holding them in front of Leech.

Leech gasped as he beheld the pictures - a sequence of shots showing him de-disguising in the alleyway the previous night. After a minute or two, Leech realized that the white flashes that accompanied his transformation must have been Tattle-Tale's camera.

"So, what'll it be?" asked Tattle-Tale. "I could print dese babies tomorra, and show da woild that Trixie shunned Fancy Pants' little party, sendin' you instead! Or maybe I could just publish dis mid transformation shot an' tell everypony Trixie's really a changelin'! Dat would get da tongues of Canterlot waggin'!" he continued, his grin becoming wider with each word.

Leech gasped, taking an involuntary step backwards in horror. Given how Trixie had been the previous night, Leech shuddered to think how mad she'd be at him if she discovered he'd been caught changing his form like that in public! Then she really would get rid of him, or maybe even worse! Plus, Tattle-Tale was right - he really did hold Trixie and Leech's destinies in the flat of his hoof.

"So, I tink you know where dis is goin'." Tattle-Tale said, breaking the silence. "You do a few small tasks fer me, an' I'll turn over da pictures and da negatives!"

"Leech... acczzeptzz your termzz." Leech replied sadly.

"Great. Meet me after woik tomorra, and we can get started!" said Tattle-Tale with his widest grin yet. "Now clear on outta here!"

At the castle library, Trixie was having a decidedly better time than her unique friend. Seated amid the silent rows of dusty tomes, the only sounds being the occasional voices of ponies as they drifted past the closed library door, Trixie's snout was buried in a large, ancient-looking book. The book was called 'MacGuffin's Guide to Magical Artifacts', and was a reference guide for all kinds of legendary magic-enhancing trinkets. One page that had caught Trixie's interest was a page that detailed an exceptionally powerful magic charm known as the 'Alicorn Amulet'. It showed a picture of a gray, triangular amulet adorned with a diamond-shaped ruby in its center. A black-and-red metal alicorn head and wings extended from the top of the amulet, and a thick collar was attached to the amulet's back to allow a pony to wear it. Enthralled by the amulet's imposing appearance, Trixie read on about the amulet's abilities and history:

The powerful Alicorn Amulet was forged by the hooves of the Royal Sisters, Celestia and Luna, many centuries ago. Crafted from a magically-enhanced alloy of finest silver and steel, the amulet's real power lies within the enchanted ruby that resides in its center.

The amulet was created during a time of unrest in Equestria, when certain high-profile unicorn clans abused their powers in order to gain status and personal wealth. The corrupt unicorns used their unique magical abilities to commit crimes against Earth ponies, pegasi, and even lesser unicorn clans. Theft, destruction of property, and ponies being driven from their homes were rife during this feudal era, and it seemed that nopony could stop these rampaging unicorns from terrorizing the land.

These unicorns were eventually challenged - and defeated - by the Royal Sisters, and imprisioned within the Crystal Caves beneath Canterlot. They numbered in their hundreds - far too many to keep underground indefinitely. Though the Royal Sisters were vehemently against execution, they required a method by which to punish these unicorns for their crimes, and also make them harmless to others before their release. The Alicorn Amulet was their solution - the enchanted ruby in the center was capable of permanently depowering a unicorn, drawing in and storing their magical energy within the gem.

After depowering all of the wicked unicorn clan members, they were released back into society, unable to hurt anypony with their magic again. However their combined magical energy remained stored within the Alicorn Amulet. It is said that anypony who wears the amulet can access this stored energy and use it to augment their own. It is estimated that around five hundred unicorns were depowered with the amulet before it became filled to capacity.

"The power of five hundred unicorns!" breathed Trixie. "Just imagine how truly great and powerful I would be with that!"

Trixie continued to read:

Knowing such power could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hooves, the Royal Sisters took turns at wearing the Alicorn Amulet around their own necks, in order to keep it safe. To further protect the amulet, the collar on which it is mounted was imbued with a magical lock, that would only open when whichever Princess wearing the amulet wanted it to. Although the sisters could handle the energies contained within, a regular unicorn using the amulet would...

"Yeah yeah, blah blah. Where can I find it?" muttered Trixie, her eyes wandering off the page and onto the next. "Ah, here we are! The good part!"

After the banishment of Princess Luna, Celestia's duties and responsibilities as ruler increased exponentially. As such, she no longer had the resources to perform her duties, whilst at the same time keeping a constant guard over the Alicorn Amulet. She initially attempted to destroy the amulet, but the energies within were potent enough to make it indestructible. Instead, it was hidden in a place where Celestia believed it would never be found. Nopony knows for sure where the amulet is located, although its last known location was in the former Castle of The Royal Sisters, in what is now the Everfree Forest.

"Very well then." said Trixie with a smile, closing the book and standing up. "I guess that's where I'll start!"

Chapter 14 - Trixie's Treasure Hunt

Bright and early the next morning, Trixie was charging about the apartment whilst putting all manner of items into her saddlebags. She had a big day planned, and she needed to make sure she was well prepared - her future may depend upon the outcome of the coming day's endeavors!

"Water canteen... check." she said out loud, stuffing a small metal bottle into the bag, "Food... check. Lantern... check. Map... check."

From his basket, the still-snoozing Leech sleepily opened an eye. Observing his friend's rushing about and fervent bag packing, he let out a stifled yawn and cleared his throat.

"What izz Trixzzie doing?" he groggily asked.

"Packing for today!" Trixie explained, brightly. "As I told you last night Leech, I've got a big day ahead of me. I'll be out of town for most of it, so if you want an actual physical snack you'll need to make it yourself. I'd recommend something cold - you remember what I told you about using the stove unsupervised, yes?"

"Leech knowzz, don't uzze zzstove without Trixzzie prezzent, otherwizze Leech might cause an 'uh-oh'." Leech replied.

"And by 'uh-oh', you mean 'catastrophic fire'. We've been lucky so far, but I think the Canterlot fire department are getting fed up of us." said Trixie, stopping for a moment to look at the singed ceiling above the stove.

"Leech will be fine. Hazz Trixzzie got planzz to zzsolve magic problemzz?" Leech asked, rising from his basket and stretching his limbs.

"Possibly, Leech. Possibly." answered Trixie, wondering if investigating a dubious legend actually counted as a plan. "Only time will tell. And if I'm going to put my plan into action, I need to get going! Goodbye for now my friend, and I'll see you this evening! Oh Leech, before I go, could you find my compass for me? I'll be needing it on my journey."

"Zzsure thing, Trixzzie!" said Leech eagerly, rummaging around until he found a small metallic object and stuffing it into one of Trixie's bags.

With this, Trixie thanked Leech before throwing her cloak over her withers and fastening it at her neck. For good measure, she activated her semi-invisibility spell with a flash of her horn. The streets were quiet at this hour, so hopefully there'd be nopony around to notice a partially visible blue-tinted silhouette in the dim morning light. Leech heard the clacking of Trixie's hooves on the marble floor as she dashed out of the door and closed it behind her.

"Leech zzsuppozzezz he'd better get ready for work." he sighed out loud, although on this occasion he really didn't want to go. "And Leech normally lovezz hizz job, too." he said sadly - he hadn't felt this crushed since the time a Behemoth changeling had accidentally trodden on him.

It was mid-morning by the time Trixie reached the borders of the Everfree Forest, her one-time home. She'd hoped that she'd never have to return to this place, but knew she could end up living here again if she didn't! She'd caught the train from Canterlot to Baltimare, and upon realizing the train didn't stop anywhere inbetween, teleported from the carriage as the train passed by the forest. Alas, she'd failed to take the train's velocity into account when doing this, and had ended up tumbling and rolling the last few hundred yards to the forest's edge. Fortunately, a low tier shielding spell had prevented her from picking up too many injuries.

Making her way into the forest's foreboding shroud of darkness, she levitated a map from her saddlebag and held it in front of her eyes. She deftly scanned it, and decided to check her bearings against her compass. She rooted around her saddlebags, unable to feel the small, round navigational aid. Instead, she eventually found two metal prongs joined by a hinge, one ending in a point and the other with a pencil attached.

"When will I learn not to ask that dolt to do important things?" she wondered to herself.

Back in Canterlot, Leech dejectedly trudged into the Canterlot Chronicle offices, his usual get-up-and-go having long since got up and left. Snap Happy was quick to notice his employee's abrupt change in demeanor, and immediately became concerned.

"Leech, are you alright?" Snap Happy asked. "You look pretty down in the dumps today. Is there something you want to talk about?"

"No... it'zz OK." Leech replied morosely, not wanting to tell Snap Happy about Tattle-Tale's scheme in case he made good on his threat to ruin Trixie's career.

"Well, this might cheer you up - we've had a swap-around with some of our reporters' shifts. Which means you've got today and tomorrow off!" Snap Happy said, attempting to sound extra-cheerful in order to brighten Leech's spirits.

"Really? Leech can go home?" replied Leech, his face immediately lighting up.

"Yep. See you in two days, my friend! Hope you feel better soo-" Snap Happy began to reply, only to watch Leech dart away before he could finish.

"Gotta make it out of here, gotta make it out of here." thought Leech as he thundered down the office corridors, determined to leave before a certain unicorn found him.

Leech's heart sank as he found his progress halted by a unicorn's aura snaring him and lifting his body several inches off the ground. He continued to ineffectually gallop in mid-air for several moments as the aura dragged him backwards and into an office, the door closing behind him. Leech ceased his futile running as he was set down in front of Tattle-Tale's desk.

"An' just where d'ya tink you're goin', buster? We had a deal!" Tattle-Tale said sternly as his horn ceased to glow. "Just cos yous got da day off, doesn't mean you get ta keep me waitin'! It just means we got more time ta do what we gotta do!"

"Yezz Tattle-Tale. Leech izz zzsorry Tattle-Tale. What doezz Tattle-Tale want Leech to do?" replied Leech, his gaze shifting to the floor.

"Well, I'm sure you are aware of the l'il problem I've been faced wid as of late. Seems da mooks in charge around here want solid evidence ta go wid my articles. And what evidence could be more solid dan a photograph?" Tattle-Tale began, a malevolent smile appearing on his face. "Tell me Leech - do you know a pony by da name of Class Act?"

"Yezz, he izz Trixzzie's employer." Leech answered with an affirming nod.

"Right. But, did you also know he made his fortune wid da cold storage company he runs alongside his chain a' cabaret bars?" asked Tattle-Tale. "He's what you might call a cold storage tycoon, an icebox industrialist..."

"...a refrigerator magnate?" chimed in Leech.

"Yeah, dat too. Anyway, he's been givin' me some problems recently, so I'm gonna do an exposé on his cold storage company's environmental irresponsibility. Y'know, a bit a' public interest news instead a' da usual celebrity stuff I do." continued Tattle-Tale.

"Zzso you want Leech to do undercover reporting to dig up the factzz?" asked Leech.

"Facts, shmacts. Da reason I erm... 'hired' you is cos you can take da form a' any pony, right? And havin' somebody who can take da' form a' any pony means... I can get photos of any pony doin' anythin' dat I say they're doin'!" Tattle-Tale explained, levitating a large, empty can with 'Toxic Waste' emblazoned upon it from behind his desk.

"What izz Tattle-Tale doing with zzstrange can?" asked Leech.

"It's what YOU'RE gonna do wid it, Leech. See dat photographic backdrop a' one of Equestria's main rivers on da wall over dere? You will take da form a' Class Act, an' den pose wid dis pretend toxic waste can in front of da backdrop. Then I'll take a picture of ya, thus givin' me all da evidence I need to publish my article!"

Leech was horrified - not only was this both immoral and illegal, but it could ruin Class Act. Leech didn't want to ruin an innocent pony's life, just as he'd been reluctant to participate in Trixie's plan during the Gemstone Festival.

"Pluzz, if Leech helpzz Tattle-Tale ruin Clazz Act, there izz chanzze that Leech might ruin Trixzzie too!" thought Leech. "Clazz Act employzz Trixzzie after all! But if Leech doezzn't do what Tattle-Tale zzsayzz... Leech will definitely ruin Trixzzie'zz career!"

Swallowing at the lump in his throat, Leech reluctantly shifted his form to that of Class Act, before scooping up the phony waste can in a forehoof and posing next to the backdrop. Leech put on his best 'sinister' face as the camera flashed and hoped that the tears he was blinking back wouldn't come out on Tattle-Tale's pictures.

Using her finely-honed instincts and impeccable strategic thinking, Trixie had managed to locate the former home of Celestia and Luna without the aid of her compass. Well, almost - in actual fact she'd stumbled upon it purely by chance whilst fleeing from a pack of ravenous Manticores. She'd only just made it to the relative safety of the ancient stone structure and closed the doors before the three vicious lion-scorpion chimeras caught up with her. Breathing a sigh of relief as her trembling body leaned against the back of the castle's heavy, wooden doors, Trixie took a few moments to regain her composure. When she had calmed herself sufficiently, she squinted in the darkness as she rummaged through her saddlebags, eventually retrieving and lighting her lantern.

Opting not to waste her energy with an illumination spell, Trixie instead carried the lantern in her aura as she began to scan the vast, empty halls of the castle for clues. Drips of water echoed through the otherwise eerily-silent corridors, save for the occasional breeze being turned into an otherworldly howl by the castle's acoustics. The lantern's light flickered across the damp blocks of stone as Trixie's eyes struggled to find any clues as to the amulet's whereabouts.

As she shuffled through the seemingly eternal darkness, Trixie felt her hoof touch something - it felt like some sort of string, or wire. Moving her lantern down to investigate, she could see that she had indeed hit some sort of trip wire. Her contemplation of the wire was interrupted as a deep, booming, ghostly voice suddenly arose from somewhere, the corridor's echo making it sound as though it were coming from all directions at once.

"Bewaaaaare, traveler! Leave this place at once! Turn back now! Turn baaaaaack!" the voice warned, causing Trixie to instinctively turn and begin to flee.

As she did so, the light of her lantern reflected from something shiny hidden in a nearby alcove. Halting her 'strategic retreat' momentarily to investigate, she trotted over to the alcove to find a small, magically-powered record player, its remarkably untarnished brass horn being what had caught her lantern's light. Attached to the record player was... a thin wire. Tracing the wire back along the walls, Trixie soon came across the same trip-wire that she had touched. Her curiosity piqued, she touched it again... and sure enough, the record player once again played the ghostly warning.

"Heh. Cute. But it'll take more than a recorded message to deter The Brave and Bold Trixie! I wasn't scared at all!" she told herself, before stepping over the wire and continuing on her way.

Soon, Trixie came to a large room which seemed to be in far worse repair than the others. The gaps between the blocks that made up its walls were uneven, loose stones protruded everywhere. Vines were coming in through the walls, and the smell of damp was far stronger in here than in any other room of the castle. Trixie, however, seemed pleased by this.

"Aha! I've read all the Daring-Do books, I know how this works. I bet one of these loose stones opens a hidden compartment when I pull on it!" she thought, setting her lantern down and gripping a loose stone with her magic.

Giving the slab a firm tug, it slid out from between its fellows and fell to the floor with a dull thud. Looking around, Trixie noted that no hidden compartments had opened up and there was nothing behind where the stone had been but the darkness of the forest outside. Undeterred, she grasped another block and pulled, yielding similar results to the first.

"Sooner or later, Trixie shall reveal the Alicorn Amulet's hiding place!" she said to herself, optimistically.

Fifteen minutes and seventy loose stones later, however, the only thing Trixie had revealed was the sheer extent of the room's structural instability. Blocks began to fall from the walls without her pulling them, and Trixie noted with horror that the room's ceiling was beginning to bow. Amid the deafening crashes of pieces of wall falling to the ground, Trixie could just about hear what her mind was telling her:

"OK, so maybe there isn't a hidden compartment after all. Now get the buck out of this room before you end up as The Flat and Squished Trixie!"

Trixie certainly didn't need telling twice, grabbing her lantern and hurrying down yet another corridor just as the hall behind her caved in on itself. This meant she'd have to find a new route out when it was time to leave, although survival was higher on her list of priorities than forward planning at that moment. Hurtling up a spiral staircase, Trixie was somewhat dizzy by the time she arrived at the top. Deducing that she must be in one of the castle's towers due to the spiral staircase and the panoramic view of the forest through the tower's small windows, she once again began to search for clues.

"Ah, I bet it's stored in here. Makes far more sense to store something valuable in a tower rather than the ground floor." she thought.

As she looked around, she felt one of the floor stones sink slightly beneath her hoof, creating an audible 'click' sound. A low rumble soon began to fill Trixie's ears.

"Oh no, not another recording!" sighed Trixie impatiently.

However, the source of the sound was not a recording, as Trixie soon discovered. The rumble became gradually louder and was accompanied by an intense vibration through the floor. It seemed to be coming from a corridor that led away from the tower, into the castle's upper floor. Moving her lantern to illuminate this corridor, Trixie's jaw dropped as she noted a huge, round stone rolling down the corridor and heading directly for the tower room she was standing in!

"Oh COME ON!" she gasped out loud. "So cliche it's untrue - Daring Do had to contend with one of these in almost every book!"

Cliche or not, its predictability made the peril no less deadly. Trixie once again went into strategic retreat mode, hurrying back down the spiral staircase from whence she came. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw to her dismay that the stone was also making its way down the staircase, gravity causing it to gather even more speed! Arriving at the bottom of the staircase, Trixie could see that the way was blocked with rubble from the hall collapse she'd caused some minutes previously.

With the boulder bearing down on her from behind and a solid wall of rubble blocking her escape, Trixie was quite literally caught between a rock and a hard place.

"Only one thing for it!" she told herself. "PANIC TELEPORT!"

Just as the round stone was about to roll over the spot where Trixie was standing, Trixie managed to summon one of her infamous panic teleport spells - like normal teleport spells, but with no control over where she would end up. Rematerializing in a flash of violet in an unknown part of the castle, Trixie took a moment to get over the shock of her most recent ordeal.

"The book said the Princesses were against execution!" she gasped. "So why is everything in this bucking castle TRYING TO KILL ME?! They must REALLY not want anypony to get their hooves on this amulet."

Having lost her lantern whilst fleeing from the boulder, Trixie squinted to see through the darkness as she made her way down the corridor. Her magic reserves severely depleted from the panic teleport, she was only able to produce a very dim purple light with her horn. Hung on either side of the thin passageway's walls were various cloth banners depicting various scenes from Equestrian history. Time hadn't been kind to them, the dampness causing many of them to mold and rot beyond recognition.

"This is useless." she finally told herself. "I'll never find the stupid amulet. There's too much castle to look through, it's like finding a needle in several haystacks! What will I do now? I needed that amulet to save my career!" she sobbed.

Noting that she'd lost her tablecloth hood and cloak somewhere along the way, Trixie figure she'd need a new cloak to conceal her identity upon her return to Canterlot. Seeing the various cloth banners on the walls around her, she pulled one down with her magic and fashioned a cloak from it. It had become almost entirely dark green from the years of mold buildup, and smelt nauseatingly musty. As Trixie turned to find the exit, she noticed a small gap in the stonework behind where the banner had once been. Shining her horn into the once-concealed space, Trixie gasped as she beheld a huge bag of ancient golden coins. Gathering up her newly found bounty, her mood improved considerably.

"At least the day hasn't been a total loss!" she thought. "Wait a second..."

Trixie quickly removed her makeshift cloak and examined it. Through the centuries of encrusted filth she could see a picture of... a treasure chest filled with golden coins. Trixie put the pieces together as she examined the other banners that hung around her.

"A banner with a picture of coins on it, had coins behind it..."

One of the banners depicted a scene of ponies fighting each other with swords. Recklessly tearing the banner down, Trixie noted that a secret compartment behind the banner contained the rusted remains of several swords and shields. She tore down several more banners to reveal empty spaces, before finally coming to a banner which caused a grin to appear on her face. It depicted a pair of Alicorns using a red gem to zap a group of angry-looking unicorns.

"That's the Princesses depowering the evil unicorns from centuries ago! The amulet must be here!" she thought, her entire being tingling with excitement.

She threw back the banner to reveal nothing in the hidden compartment except for a scroll. Levitating the heavily stained parchment over to her, she unrolled it and began to read:

Sorry, but the Alicorn Amulet is in Another Castle.

Hours later, Trixie angrily stomped through the gates of Canterlot as evening fell. The weather had changed during her long, treacherous journey back, and heavy rain fell from the blackened cloudy skies. It didn't matter to Trixie though, despite her luck in finding the coins she was incensed with fury at missing out on the Alicorn Amulet. As the rain soaked her moldy cloak, causing its smell to become even pungent, Trixie gingerly felt the lump on the back of her head with her hoof. As it turned out, teleporting onto a moving train was just as hazardous as teleporting off one.

Deciding that she couldn't bear to go home and give Leech the bad news, Trixie instead decided to take a long, slow walk around Canterlot, trotting solemnly down a side street that she had never traveled down before. Looking around, she noticed all kinds of strange shops she'd never realized existed in Canterlot.

"Mortar Brick's Building Repairs... Bitsan Piece's Bric-a-Brac... Another Castle Antiques and Curios... Mann Co... Lord Howard Hertz Budget Dental Surgery..." she began, reading the shop names out loud.

Trixie suddenly stopped walking as inspiration struck her.

"Hold on... Another Castle Antiques and Curios? I wonder..." she wondered out loud. "It's a long and pretty tenuous shot, but what the hay - it's all I have!"

Trixie ran up to the decrepit-looking store and pushed open its door, a small bell tingling as she entered the dusty, grimy room. All kinds of weird and wonderful items lay upon the shelves around her, from old pegasus armor to rather creepy ancient creatures preserved in glass jars. From across the dimly-lit room, the shopkeeper trotted over, startling Trixie as he emerged from the murky gloom.

"May I help you, Traveler?" he said softly. "Hmmm... something drew you to my shop. Something..."

"It was the name." Trixie interrupted, less softly. "You have quite possibly the worst name for an antique shop I've ever seen. But, and I know this sounds ridiculous, I think your shop may hold something I'm looking for."

The shopkeeper looked a little irritated at Trixie's insulting remarks about his shop's name, but retained his cool demeanor as he flicked back his plaited mane and adjusted his strange, foreign-looking hat.

"Well, my grandfather named the shop. I merely inherited it from my father, who in turn inherited it from him. It is traditional for the firstborn of each generation of the MacGuffin family to take ownership of this shop and continue our hunt for Equestria's artifacts." the shopkeeper explained.

"Wait, YOU'RE MacGuffin? As in author of the MacGuffin's Guides?" asked Trixie, somewhat shocked.

"Ah, you have a keen eye." replied MacGuffin with a smile. "I did not write those guides, but my great-great-grandfather did. Since then, my family has dedicated itself to locating the treasures that he described in his books."

"What do you know about the Alicorn Amulet?" Trixie asked, becoming bored with the history lesson.

"The most mysterious and powerful of all the known magic charms! I have it here. My father acquired it some decades ago, and I have been its protector ever since." answered MacGuffin, producing a glass dome from behind the counter.

Trixie's eyes became as wide as saucers as she gazed upon the Alicorn Amulet within the dome. She quickly turned to MacGuffin.

"How much do you want for it?" she asked, urgently.

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly." replied MacGuffin. "It is far too powerful and dangerous to leave my custody."

"This is a shop. You sell stuff. The Alicorn Amulet is here. So sell it to me!" Trixie replied, increasingly desperately.

"Isn't there something else you'd rather have?" asked MacGuffin, as he looked around nervously. "How about this glass orb? Legend has it, this orb gives you control over Timberwolves! Or maybe this book, the last remaining translation guide for the ancient language of Hasharbanu! Or maybe even this club, said to have been owned by the legendary neighanderthal Tarpan?"

Trixie ignored the alternatives that MacGuffin offered her, sweeping them all off the counter with her hoof. Without saying a word, she levitated her bag of golden coins from her saddlebag and dumped them harshly onto the counter. MacGuffin took a moment to examine the bounty that lay before him.

"I say! Ancient Equestrian currency! Solid gold, all of them! And you're offering me all of these just for this one silly little amulet?" he breathed, barely able to contain his excitement.

Trixie again said nothing, merely smiling and nodding. MacGuffin looked back at her, his smile even broader than hers.

"Would you like that gift-wrapped?"

Author's Note

Hoo boy, we got FimFiction references and shout-outs up the ying-yang with this one!

Changeling Behemoths are a shout out to My Little Behemoth - Friendship is More Than Food by Kishin.
Mortar Brick is a reference to the amazing March To The Gallows by Foxy Kimchi
The Timberwolf-controlling orb refers to Timberwolves Take Over The World by CluelessBrony.
Tarpan is from the sadly-not-updated Neighanderthal by the prolific Mr Grimm
Hasharbaru is a language from Love Mine, by the intellectual Zephyrus Scary

Look them up, and check them out because, frankly, they are all made of win. And muffins.

Chapter 15 - A Mare Possessed

Trixie scurried out of the antique store, clutching her new acquisition to her chest as though it were a newborn foal. Hurrying into a narrow entryway between two of the slightly shabby brick buildings, Trixie took her forehoof away from her chest and examined the precious Alicorn Amulet she held. The light was fading fast and the rain continued to pour from the heavens, but Trixie cared nothing for the prevailing climate. All that mattered to her at that moment was unlocking and acquiring the immense power the legendary amulet reputedly held within.

"Well, here goes everything!" she said out loud, her voice trembling. "My future's riding on this - let's just hope the legends are true..."

Wasting no further time, Trixie nervously levitated the amulet in front of her, turning it around so that the back was facing her. She gently opened the sturdy collar on which the amulet was mounted, lifted it up to her neck and then closed the collar around it, clicking the magic lock closed at the back. For a moment, Trixie simply stood there in the driving rain, becoming soaked whilst waiting for something to happen. As the seconds ticked by, Trixie began to worry that she'd not only wasted her entire day and given away a priceless bounty of gold, but that she'd been naive for believing in legends.

"It hasn't worked! Oh my Celestia, I'm finished! I'll be outed as a fraud! I might even be arrested! What am I going t-"

At that moment, every atom of Trixie's being seemed to ignite simultaneously, a tremendous wave of energy bursting forth from within her chest. Her entire vision took on a crimson haze as she struggled to stay on her hooves amid the torrent of sheer power that was forcing its way into her body. She tried to scream, but every synapse in her brain had seized, causing her to open her mouth and croak feebly instead. Collapsing into a heap on the ground, Trixie began to regret ever putting the amulet on when suddenly, just as quickly as it had started, the rush of painful energy ceased.

Trixie lay still on the ground for a few moments as her brain took in the fact she was still alive, before shakily getting to her hooves. The burning sensations and involuntarily muscle spasms had now given way to a delicious feeling of warmth and well being that enrobed her entire body. She felt comfortable, safe and above all else... invincible.

"Time to see if this is just a placebo, or whether it's the real deal..." said Trixie to nopony in particular. "First things first - I'd better get back home where I can test things out in a more controlled environment."

With this, Trixie pulled the hood back over her head and, for good measure, activated her semi-invisibility spell. To her surprise, once her now-red magic aura had died down, she couldn't see her own hooves. At all. Trixie couldn't help but give a gleeful laugh.

"Full invisibility! This is incredible! This thing really HAS boosted my powers!" she thought. "Now I won't need these stupid hoods and cloaks wherever I go, I can be a mere shadow in the night! A specter, forever one step ahead of the watching eye of the Canterlot press!"

Becoming visible again, Trixie threw her makeshift cloak and hood into the air and, with a pinpoint-accurate beam of scarlet energy, vaporized the fetid cloth before it reached the ground. She burst into merry laughter again, before turning invisible and heading for home, her entire form blending imperceptibly with the drenched and darkened scenery around her.

In the apartment, things weren't quite so cheerful. A melancholy Leech stood at the balcony doors, watching the evening's rainfall spatter against the glass, the droplets running into each other and forming larger ones before continuing their journey to the bottom of the pane. As he did, he thought about his and Trixie's life before they'd ever moved to Canterlot; a carefree life, a life of travel and adventure, and above all else a life that Leech missed terribly.

"Zzstupid Canterlot!" he thought. "Trixzzie izz all zzstrezzed all the time, shoutzz at Leech, flankhole Tattle-Tale takezz advantage of Leech at work, other rezzidentzz hate Leech. Leech not know why he botherzz zzstaying here!"

Of course, Leech did know why he bothered staying - he wanted to help make Trixie's dreams a reality. Yet, here they were, living Trixie's dream and they were both unhappier than they'd been in months. Although he didn't care to admit it to himself, Leech's infinite patience with Trixie was becoming more finite by the day.

"Izz zzstrezz. Leech izz zzsure. Trixzzie will come around zzsoon!" Leech thought, his usual optimistic smile returning as he turned away from the window.

As he did so, Leech noticed that the apartment's front door was ajar. Leech was sure he hadn't left the door open - not today, at least. He'd checked it four or five times since he'd gotten home just to make sure.

"Izz... zzsomeone there?" he called nervously, with a cautious glance around the room.

A muted 'clack' of a hoof stepping gently on the marble floor was the room's only reply.

"Leech izz warning intruder! Leech hazz a club!" he said, panic registering in his voice.

Dashing over to the kitchenette, he quickly armored himself with a colander atop his head, and grabbed a conveniently placed club which lay on the kitchen worktop. Pacing on three hooves whilst holding his weapon aloft with his right forehoof, Leech crept about the silent apartment whilst listening for more suspicious sounds. Nothing but the howling of the wind outside met his vigilant ears. Just as Leech began to relax, a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder outside caught him off guard. With a yell, he stumbled backwards, stunned by the sudden flash, bumping into what felt like a pony as he did so.

"Intruder! Intruder!" cried Leech, swinging his club overhead and bringing it down upon the shadowy raider's head.

The club broke in half, sending crumbs flying in all directions. The unseen pony suddenly began to glow with a sinister red aura, causing Leech to dive to the ground and cover his eyes as best he could with his holey forehooves. As the brilliant crimson outline faded, Leech could hear a familiar laughter...

"Trixzzie..?" he asked, uncovering his eyes.

Trixie finished becoming fully visible, and used her magic to turn the apartment's lanterns on. All the while, she was laughing a deep, almost mocking laughter.

"Oh, Leech! You silly little changeling!" said Trixie between guffaws. "That was priceless! You should have seen your face!"

"Trixzzie wazz fully invizzible?" asked Leech, still shaken and stunned in equal measure. "How did Trixzzie do it?"

"With THIS!" Trixie replied, pointing to her new Alicorn Amulet. "This is what I went searching for today, and as usual I triumphed! It boosts my power five-hundred fold! If there was ever any doubt that the Great and Powerful Trixie was the most powerful unicorn in Equestria, there won't be anymore!"

Leech couldn't help but be impressed at Trixie's new levels of power, but at the same couldn't help but feel that her little prank had been somewhat cruel.

"Trixzzie could have been hurt!" Leech said, attempting to raise the topic in a way that didn't involve openly criticizing his friend. "Leech uzzed that club you bought yezzterday for home defenzze!"

"Home defense? Wrong kind of club, Leech. The club I bought yesterday was a sandwich. A cress and cucumber club, to be precise. It's my dinner for tonight - or it was, anyway!" Trixie explained, noting the pieces of baguette in her mane and on the floor around her. "Still, not a big problem with the Alicorn Amulet! Be amazed by my new fix-it spell!"

Leech watched in wonderment as the ruby in the center of the amulet glowed scarlet, along with Trixie's horn and, disturbingly, her eyes. A similar aura engulfed each of the pieces of crumbled bread and smears of splattered condiment, levitating them in front of Trixie like some kind of edible swarm. With a flash, the floating pieces were gone and in their place floated a fully intact club sandwich. Looking at the sandwich, one would never know Leech had attempted to brain Trixie with it just minutes previously. Trotting over to the couch, Trixie casually sat down with her newly-repaired prize and took a big bite.

"See?" she said, between chews. "Nothing to it! The Gala show will be a breeze, along with every show I do from hereon in!"

"Won't poniezz recognizze amulet around Trixzzie's neck?" asked Leech.

"OF COURSE NOT, you imbecile! It's an ancient artifact that nopony else has ever heard of! Gah, I'd use my fix-it spell on your BRAIN if it wasn't such a SMALL TARGET!" snarled Trixie, the red light flaring up in her eyes as she spoke.

"Where did THAT come from?" wondered Trixie as she came to terms with what she'd just done. "I mean, no Leech. I shall integrate it into my costume so it's not quite so obvious." she explained in a kinder tone.

"Izz Trixzzie... alright?" ventured Leech quietly, not wishing to invoke Trixie's sudden wrath again.

"Yes Leech, just fine... I'm just... a little tired from today, that's all. Death defying missions into old castles and acquiring ancient superpowers do that to a mare!" she explained, not entirely convinced with her own explanation.

"That makezz zzsenzze..." replied Leech, also harboring some doubts over Trixie's reasoning.

"I reckon I'll go to bed and sleep it off, I've got a big show to practice for tomorrow!" continued Trixie, finishing off her sandwich. "Not that I'll need much practice with my new trinket on my side! Oh and Leech, could you get me a glass of water whilst I get ready for bed? That sandwich needs something to wash it down with."

"Zzsure thing, Trixzzie!" Leech replied brightly. "Leech juzzt needzz to do a few thingzz firzzt, and then..."

"Did I ask you to to get me a glass of water later?" Trixie asked darkly, her eyes once more aflame with red energy. "I did not. I asked for one NOW. And you will fetch me one NOW, do you hear me?"

"Why izz Trixzzie -"

"And another thing, will you knock it off with that STUPID, IRRITATING buzzing! Every other changeling I met could talk properly! Trust me to get the village idiot!" Trixie interrupted, her tone becoming harsher with each word. "Now I'll ask again - GET ME SOME WATER. NOW."

After a short, tense silence, Leech spoke up.

"No." he replied flatly.

"WHAT?!" bellowed Trixie, the glow from her eyes now bright enough to cast a demonic red light over the entire room.

"Leech zzsaid NO. Trixzzie can get water herzzelf! Leech not act as Trixzzie'zz azzizztant! Not any more! Leech is zzsick of being treated like horzzeapplezz, zzsick of Trixzzie's attitude! And Leech izz ezzpecially zzsick of being shouted at all the time! Zsso.... Leech quitzz azz Trixzzie's azzizztant!"

Trixie said nothing, merely narrowing her gaze at her former assistant as her horn began to glow as red as her eyes.

"Azz of NOW." Leech went on, turning his hindquarters to face Trixie. "Which meanzz Trixzzie can juzzt pucker her Great and Powerful zzsnout and plant big wet juizzy one right here on Leech's big... fat... shiny..."

Leech didn't get chance to finish his resignation before he was forcibly ejected from the apartment, atop a blast of blood-red magic energy. Like a small, insect-shaped comet with a vivid crimson tail, he shot out of the balcony doors and sailed across the Canterlot night sky, eventually coming to rest in the outskirts of the castle gardens.

"And don't you EVER come back!" growled Trixie from the balcony, her eyes still blazing and her horn smoking.

As she slammed the glass doors shut behind her, the glow in her eyes ceased, returning them to their usual magenta hue.

"What the buck did I just do?!" she cried. "Why in Equestria did I just shout at him and kick him out? What's happening to me? I must find him and make sure he's alright!"

As she headed for the door, Trixie noticed the amulet's jewel glowing red, just as her horn and eyes had done moments previously.

"The amulet... maybe this is the cause? I'd better take this thing off until I can get a better idea of what it does." she thought, fumbling urgently at the back of the amulet's collar in an attempt to undo the lock.

Before she could, however, another colossal surge of the amulet's limitless energy washed over her, restoring the malevolent crimson sheen to her irises.

"Gah, forget him! He was only dead weight anyway! I've got much bigger things in my sights, like showing Canterlot that I, without any shadow of doubt, am the single greatest Equestrian to have ever existed!" she proclaimed, ceasing her struggle with the amulet's collar and heading towards the bedroom, sniggering to herself as she went.

In a dusty outbuilding in the castle grounds stood a wagon - a wagon that had once been home to Trixie and Leech. Covered with cobwebs and grime due to being stood up and left untouched for several months, it now played host to one of its former residents. Leech had sought shelter from the torrential rain in the outbuilding, and had been both surprised and pleased to see his old home parked up within. He sat upon the end of what had been Trixie's bed, tearfully rifling through a dusty trunk that contained all their mementos from their travels.

"The headdrezz Trixzzie got from zzebrazz...." he sighed, lifting the feathered headgear from the trunk and placing it to one side. "The flyer for Gemzztone Fezztival... one of the zzstage fireworkzz that didn't work... the shiny pebble Leech gave Trixzzie for her birthday..." he continued, levitating the items one by one and placing them in a pile on the bed.

"Zzso many happy memoriezz." thought Leech. "Zzo many travellzz and good timezz. Why hazz Trixzzie turned her back on Leech after we go through all thizz?"

It didn't make sense. He'd been Trixie's only friend when she needed one most, and even though it took a while for her to reciprocate, she did in the end. Leech never thought he'd see the day when their bond would be broken, especially not like this. Tapping his head with a hoof as he blinked through the tears, Leech continued to ponder.

"Izz zzstrange new amulet thingy connected to thizz zzsomehow?" he wondered, noting the drastic onset of Trixie's temperament alteration. "No, it can't be. The problemzz Leech had in department zzstore. The posh poniezz dizzcuzzing Trixzzie getting rid of Leech. Trixzzie shouting at Leech when Leech get her Gala show. All thozze happened before Trixzzie got zzstupid amulet."

Leech's sorrow gave way to anger as he pondered his situation in further depth - or at least, as deeply he could manage.

"Zzso that meanzz... Trixzzie really doezz want rid of Leech! Trixzzie thinkzz she'zz too good to be friendzz with Leech now! Izz not fair, after all Trixzzie and Leech go through! Leech show her! Leech will get revenge!" he growled out loud, jumping down from the bed and gazing grimly out of the wagon's door.

"Trixzzie will regret day she mezzezz with Leech!"

Author's Note

Hey look, it's an absolutely massive Beast Wars parallel!

Chapter 16 - Before The Storm

As the sun rose the next morning, Leech was dejectedly strolling through the castle gardens. Sleep had, for the most part, eluded him that night - partly because of his current circumstances, and partly because the wagon was freezing cold with no fuel in its stove. Groggily rubbing at his eyes, Leech was pleased to see the morning sun slowly make its way from behind the horizon and into the sky.

"At leazzt izz not raining anymore!" he thought. "Rain zzsounded like avalanche on building roof lazzt night!"

Making his way across the soggy lawns, the ground beneath him squelching with every step, Leech made his way to one of the gardens' exit gates. He wasn't entirely sure where he would go from here, seeing as he had the day off work and no apartment to go to.

"Hmm. Leech hazz day off, but Tattle pony wantzz Leech to go and help make more phoney gozzip picturezz." he thought sadly.

Leech exited the gardens and trotted down Canterlot's empty streets, the majority of the city's denizens still being abed from the previous night's exertions. The only ponies Leech could see during his melancholy canter were the various milkponies making their deliveries, the occasional royal guard and oddly, a vagrant rummaging through a nearby dumpster. Leech paid none of them any heed however, as his mind was preoccupied with his confrontation with Trixie.

"Maybe Leech should apologizze for yelling at Trixzzie? No! Trixzzie wazz mean to Leech, Trixzzie should apologizze! But Trixzzie hazz alwayzz been a bit mean to Leech, doezzn't mean Trixzzie hatezz Leech... but she'zz never been thizz bad..." he debated with himself, back and forth until he thought his brain would melt.

The more he considered his position, however, the angrier he became.

"Trixzzie carezz nothing for Leech, Leech izz juzzt meanzz to an end! Leech will show Trixzzie a thing or two, why if Leech zzsaw her now..."

Leech's attention was caught by the 'vagrant' pulling her head out of the dumpster and slamming its lid closed. As Leech turned to look, a familiar set of violet eyes looked back at him, framed by a messy mane and a banana peel hanging off the horn above them.

"Leech!" cried Trixie, running towards him. "I've been looking everywhere for you since sunrise, thank Celestia you're alright!"

Leech stared wordlessly at Trixie for a few moments, before flinging himself forwards and wrapping his forelegs around one of her own.

"Leech izz zzsorry, Leech never wantzz to fall out with Trixzzie again, Leech never ever shout again! Leech wantzz to zzstay friendzz forever!" he yammered hurriedly, immediately disregarding his previous line of thought.

"I know, I know." soothed Trixie, rubbing Leech's head with her other forehoof. "Don't worry, Leech, you haven't done anyth-... oh no, not again!"

Leech looked up at Trixie, and noticed the malevolent red glow present in her irises once more. She pulled her hoof away from Leech's own and staggered backwards, shaking her head violently as though she was engaged in some kind of internal struggle.

"No... no... I can't let this... happen... again..." she thought as she frantically attempted to suppress the shockwave of negativity and hostility that threatened to consume her mind once more.

Alas, one unicorn's willpower was no match for the mystic energies of five hundred unicorns long since passed, and soon Trixie stood bolt upright, glaring at Leech with narrowed crimson eyes and a steely gaze.

"As I was saying, you haven't done anything anywhere near enough to make up for your disrespect to Trixie the All-Powerful!" she boomed, striding purposefully towards Leech.

"But Trixzzie zzsaid she wanted to be friendzz again... now Trixzzie zzsayzz Leech needzz to apologizze more? Leech doezz not underzzstand!" he wailed, backing away from Trixie's continued advance.

"That's not a surprise, Leech seldom does!" snarled Trixie, pushing her snout into Leech's face and staring directly into his eyes with her own. "But try not to let it get you down too much, bug face! Now, until you have a suitable way of making amends to Trixie, stay out of my way!"

With this, Trixie turned around and stomped away, shouting obscenities at a nearby milkmare as she went past. As Leech watched her leave, he picked himself up and furrowed his brow.

"Oh. It. Izz. On." he hissed, before taking flight and heading further into the city.

A short while later, Leech touched down at the end of the street where he worked, and galloped the rest of the way to the Canterlot Chronicle offices. As he did, Leech couldn't help but notice that the streets were beginning to become busier as the Canterlot populace began to awaken. He also couldn't help but notice that their stares were harsher, and their jibes were crueler than they'd been previously.

"Vermin!" shouted a passing mare.

"Get out of our city, parasite!" snarled a shop vendor as he opened his premises for the day.

Ignoring them and the dark muttering from the other ponies who happened to be in the area, Leech soon reached his intended destination. Wasting no time, Leech barged through the Chronicle building's front door and flew vertically up the stairwell. He carefully poked his head around the corner of the corridor that led to the press offices themselves. He couldn't afford to let any of the staff see him in the office during his supposed day off, lest any of them become suspicious! Creeping cautiously through the building, Leech's heart stopped as he heard hoofsteps approaching. Thinking quickly, Leech deftly switched forms, becoming a large potted plant in a puff of green energy. From within his leafy disguise, Leech watched the pair of unicorn reporters trot past, hoping neither of them would question where the new potted plant had come from. Turning into a plant wasn't difficult - after all, changelings could imitate any living being, regardless of their disguise's sapience level. The pot had been a little trickier, but fortunately Leech had picked up a trick or two from Trixie during his time with her. Combining this with his own powers allowed for what was technically known as a partial inorganic transformation. Or as Leech called it, 'turning into stuff that isn't ponies'.

"Morning, Leech." said one of them nonchalantly as they strode by.

Somewhat crestfallen, Leech switched back to his original appearance.

"How did pony know it wazz Leech?" he asked, disappointed.

"Because pot plants generally don't have eyes." replied the other reporter, stopping and turning to face Leech. "Say, didn't Snap Happy say you were off today?"

"Well... yezz... but... erm..." stammered Leech. "Leech forgot hizz... um... hizz hat. Yezz, Leech left hizz reporter hat at offizze. And if Leech zzseezz good zzstory during hizz day off, he can't report it without hizz hat!"

"I hear you, my friend!" replied the first reporter, lovingly tapping his 'Press' fedora with a forehoof. "I don't know what it is about these things, but I just can't report unless I'm looking the part! Well, see you around!"

Leech mopped his brow as he watched the reporters leave, which was a somewhat redundant action since chitin didn't contain sweat glands. But, it just felt right to Leech at that moment in time. Swiftly resuming his mission, Leech stealthily made his way to Tattle-Tale's office, encountering seventeen other ponies along the way. Thanks to his mastery of disguise and natural changeling cunning, however, he was only spotted fifteen times. Reaching his target, Leech took a deep breath in, and knocked the door to Tattle-Tale's office. He pushed the door open cautiously when the gossip-crazed unicorn told him he could enter, and scurried inside.

Canterlot's streets had once more gained their usual hustle and bustle as its pompous populace awoke and set out to begin their day. Among them, a hooded and cloaked figure paced nervously down the main street, a pair of magenta eyes occasionally peering from beneath the hood. Trixie glanced around, paranoid about being recognized and attracting any unwanted attention. As she walked, the Alicorn Amulet jingled and clanked from within her saddlebags, where it resided since she'd taken it off.

"It's no good, I'll HAVE to cancel my Gala show. This thing's defective - there's no telling what I'll do if I keep using it!" she mused pensively. "I just hope the citizens of Canterlot will understand, and that the gossip article calling me a coward won't have too much of an effect!"

Presently, she left the busy main streets and approached an immaculately polished set of brass gates, at the end of a long pathway leading to an impressive white-painted mansion - the home of Fancy Pants. Trixie pushed the door buzzer button set into the wall to the left of the gates, and waited for Fancy to open the gates for her. She hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed at her turning down his offer of performing at the Gala, but knew deep down it was for the best. As she waited, a distressed voice called to her from behind.

"Trixie? Is that you?" came the call.

Trixie rolled her eyes and turned around, expecting yet another armada of crazed fans to mob her with autograph books, or stand next to her and grin as their friends took pictures. She really wasn't in the mood for this, but sighed defeatedly as she turned around and awaited the inevitable. What she found when she turned around, however, surprised her.

"Class Act?" she exclaimed, noting the tired-looking pony before her.

Sure enough, there stood Trixie's employer, looking as though he hadn't slept or shaved in days, his eyes bloodshot with heavy bags beneath them and his body exhausted and unfed.

"Thank goodness I've found you." he panted, a moderate whiff of alcohol on his breath. "I've just come to wish you luck with the Gala performance tomorrow. You have no idea how much this is going to mean to me!"

"Well... um... thanks, I guess." began Trixie, uncertainly. "But you've got an entire business empire at your hooves, why in Equestria is my performance going to affect you so?"

"Because my cold storage company is under investigation by the Equestria Environmental Department! Some hack of a journalist has reported that my firm is committing environmental crimes, and there's not a shred of truth to it! Tattle-Tale, that conniving trickster... he's even got photos! I don't know where from, because I've never dumped waste into the country's waterways - Chilled Refreshments And Perishables has always prided itself on environmental responsibility!" yammered Class Act, his voice becoming increasingly desperate.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that... I've had an encounter with Tattle-Tale myself. He's a flank-headed cretin for sure, but I still don't get what bearing I have on all this." replied Trixie, sympathetically.

"My business is going down the tubes! My customers are going to start cancelling contracts, and I bet I'll have to close it down before the year is out! Which means my cabaret bars will be my sole income from now on. And when you knock 'em dead at the Gala, they'll be the most popular bars in all of Equestria!" continued Class Act, a hopeful smile appearing on his face. "Do well at the Gala, and I'll make it through this whole ordeal just fine! I'll see you tomorrow!"

With this, Class Act trotted away, a slight stagger to his step as though he were struggling to co-ordinate his hooves. Trixie hung her head and closed her eyes tightly. She wondered bitterly why nothing could ever be simple for her! Her best friend was missing, she didn't even know if reconciliation was possible, she had an amulet which made her angry every time she wore it and now she didn't know whether she could cancel her show!

"Class Act was the pony who gave me my big break in Canterlot!" she thought. "I can't let him down like this. No two ways about it, I'll HAVE to perform after all!"

She levitated the Alicorn Amulet from her saddlebag, and gazed upon it thoughtfully. Its enchanted ruby glistened in the mid-morning sun, occasionally emitting an otherworldly shimmer of crimson energy.

"It's just for one more day, I only need to wear it until the Gala is over and done with. I'll have to be alert and control the impulses it gives me. You're strong, Trixie. You can do this. You're Great and Powerful, no mere bauble is going to mess with your mind!" she told herself as she placed the amulet's collar back around her neck.

This time she wasn't knocked off her hooves by a wave of power hitting her, instead merely experiencing a moment of slight nausea before the familiar, addictive feeling of security and invulnerability coursed through her body once more.

"See, this isn't so bad." she told herself out loud, a smile gracing her lips. "It's fine, maybe I just put it on wrong the first time around. No freaky glowing or angry shouting this time around."

Presently, Fancy Pants arrived and swung open the heavy brass gates. He was surprised to find the hooded and cloaked Trixie standing at the end of his garden path.

"Trixie, my dear!" he said smoothly. "You do look well! To what do I owe the pleasure? Are you ready for your big performance tomorrow?"

"TRIXIE IS TOTALLY READY! MY MIND IS READY! MY BODY IS READY!" roared Trixie, her eyes burning redder than ever and her mouth contorted into a maniacal grin.

"Oh, um, splendid." replied Fancy Pants meekly, taking a step backwards. "And will your little friend be present for the show?"

"Leech? HAH! Don't make Trixie the All-Powerful laugh. I ditched that dolt like the dead-weight he is!" Trixie responded with a wicked grin.

"Oh, excell- I mean, I am sorry your friendship's gone that way. Still, never mind - you've most likely learned a valuable lesson about trusting changelings. Say, whilst you're here, would you like to come in for tea and cake?" asked Fancy Pants, barely able to suppress a triumphant smile.

"Darn straight, Fancy!" boomed Trixie, giving Fancy Pants an over-enthusiastic hoof bump to his shoulder.

With this, Trixie boldly trotted down the path towards the mansion, as Fancy Pants quickly closed the gates and hobbled after her, barely able to keep pace.

Meanwhile, at the Canterlot Chronicle offices, Leech was seated in Tattle-Tale's office, explaining his situation. Tattle-Tale, sensing trouble, eagerly listened to everything Leech had to say.

"Well, I'm sorry yer friendship's gone south." Tattle-Tale said to Leech, thinly veiling his insincerity. "But tell me, what does this have ta do wid me?"

"Tattle-Tale hazz photozz showing Trixzzie bailed on Fanzzy pony'zz party, right?" responded Leech, his gaze shifting to the side as though contemplating his own actions.

"Oh, you mean my 'insurance policy', da one I'm usin' ta secure your services?" asked Tattle-Tale, a smug grin appearing on his face.

"Yep." said Leech flatly. "Tattle-Tale can publish them. Leech doezzn't care any more."

Author's Note

First update in weeks.... and it's a setup chapter. Sorry about that!

Chapter 17 - Absolute Power Corrupts? Absolutely!

Tattle-Tale didn't quite know how to react to Leech's bombshell at first. His initial feeling was one of crushing disappointment as he realized he no longer held any sort of power over Leech. As he pondered the situation however, a malevolent smile soon began to spread across his muzzle. He glanced at a nearby desk calendar, and then turned back to face Leech.

"Leech my friend, ya couldn't a' timed dis better!" exclaimed Tattle-Tale. "Yer ex-buddy Trixie's doin' da biggest show a' her career tomorra, meanin' she'll be da talk a' the town. So if we publish dese beauties da mornin' after... her popularity is gonna put my readership inta' da stratosphere!"

"That'zz good... izzn't it?" queried Leech, not entirely sure what a 'stratosphere' was.

"Good? It's fan-freakin'-tastic!" Tattle-Tale replied. "I might even win an award for dis one! Story a' da century!"

"What... exzzactly will happen to Trixzzie after photozz are printed?" asked Leech, a tinge of remorse creeping into his voice.

"Ha! Dat mare will be ruined forever! Everypony's gonna forget about da part she played in savin' da city all those months ago! Fancy Pants is a pretty influential pony, when everypony gets a load a' Trixie givin him da brush off, ain't nopony gonna take her seriously ever again!" came the reply, punctuated by sinister laughter.

"Ha... ha... umm.... yezz, good one... maybe?" squeaked Leech in a tiny voice, attempting to laugh along but being unable to bring himself to.

Ruined forever? Leech hopezz it'zz not permanent, Leech only wantzz to ruin Trixzzie forever for a little while...

Leech's deliberations were interrupted as he caught sight of a letter on Tattle-Tale's desk. Tattle had been working on it when Leech had entered the room, and the little changeling was intrigued as to what the letter was for.

"What izz letter Tattle pony izz working on?" asked Leech, trying to distract himself from his doubts for a few moments.

"Oh, dat? Dat's a little somethin' I'm sendin' to a journalist friend a' mine back in Bronclyn. Much like me, he's a journalist dedicated ta' bringing celebrity gossip ta' da masses... warts an' all!" replied Tattle-Tale with a sneer.

"What doezz letter zzsay?" Leech enquired, wondering why ponies would want to read about each others' warts.

"Well, since we're on da same side now, guess there's no harm in readin' it to ya," began Tattle-Tale, levitating the document up to his face and clearing his throat.

Dear Mud Slinger

It's your old buddy Tattle-Tale here, with a little proposition for you. I'm based in Canterlot at the moment, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in working for me at some stage in the near future. I can guarantee there'll be no shortage of work - I've already accrued a massive readership, I've got an associate who can help produce all the photographic evidence we need, and a fully equipped office.

But let me tell you the absolute best thing about working in Canterlot - the populace are the biggest bunch of petulant, gossip-hungry slugs I've ever encountered. Seriously, these ponies are just a load of vapid, empty-headed, mindless cretins who will gladly swallow any horseapples I put out there! Heck before the recent change in legislation I didn't even need to put pictures with my articles if I didn't have any. The place is a goldmine, a huge number of incredibly gullible and stupid ponies with too much money - and they'll gladly part with that money in exchange for any old gossip, even if it's just a steaming pile of scat. Too far up their own flanks to see the truth, and too lazy to find anything out for themselves.

Don't worry about the legalities either - I make enough profit that I can skim cash off to pay any court fees with. I just tell the owners that it's "business expenses" - as long as they don't know where the money goes, it can't hurt them!

With the rate at which my operation is expanding, I reckon in the next month or so I'll need assistance in running my gossip mag - too many rich morons to fleece, and not enough time!

Write back to me with your decision, or feel free to visit the office. See you soon!

Tattle-Tale

"So ya see," explained Tattle-Tale, "when we run dis here exposé on your friend, I reckon my paper's gonna become too huge for me ta run all by myself! So I thought I'd extend an invite to my old buddy."

Tattle-Tale deftly folded the document in half and slotted it neatly into an envelope, before setting it down on his desk. He rose to his hooves and headed for the office door, before stopping and turning back to look at Leech.

"I'll take da Trixie pics to the print room dis evenin'," he said, "meanwhile, I want you ta find out all ya can about dis amulet thing you mentioned earlier. If she's really cheatin' on her performances, dat's double the scandal!"

With this, Tattle-Tale strode from the office to get some lunch, leaving Leech alone with his thoughts.

Leech made no effort to leave Tattle-Tale's office, his troubled mind instead contemplating his and Trixie's current situation.

"Leech zzsure hopezz Leech knowzz what he izz doing..." he said sadly, before his attention was once again caught by something - the slot machine device Tattle-Tale used for his story ideas.

Seeing the opportunity for a much-needed bit of fun, Leech reached out a forehoof and gave the handle a tug, sending the three barrels into a whirling frenzy of names and activities. With a 'clack!', the spinning barrels came to a halt, forming a sentence which Leech slowly read out to himself.

"Filthy Rich... caught shoplifting... mare'zz underwear..." he said slowly, before erupting into riotous laughter.

"Thizz izz fun!" he gasped between guffaws, before giving the lever another pull.

"Photo Finish... admitzz... never bathing..." he read out loud once more, before another fit of giggles took hold.

"Photo pony doezzn't bathe! Thizz machine izz zzso funny!" laughed Leech, falling onto the floor in hysterics, lying on his back and kicking his little hindlegs out.

His laughter soon stopped as one of his kicking hindlegs hit one of the legs of Tattle-Tale's desk. Leech watched as the desk shot several feet backward, the documents on it being flung in all directions. The motion caused the slot machine on the desk to topple over, hitting a nearby filing cabinet... which in turn, like a huge metal domino, fell into a nearby set of wooden shelves with a deafening crash. Envelopes, files, folders and sheets of paper rained from the upended cabinet and shelves like giant flakes of confetti, which soon covered the floor of Tattle-Tale's office. Leech quickly got to his hooves and surveyed the scene of destruction.

"Uh-oh. Leech had better clean up thizz mezz and get out of here!" he breathed, before quickly charging about the office, grabbing hoof-fuls of documents and stuffing them into drawers and folders, with little consideration of whether they were the actual places the documents had come from.

Before long, Leech had placed all the documents and folders, more or less at random, back into the drawers and onto the shelves. The envelopes containing Tattle's letter to his friend and the incriminating photos of Trixie were back in their proper places, as were all items of furniture. His task complete, Leech quickly scuttled out of the building before Tattle-Tale returned.

Meanwhile in Fancy Pants' lounge, things were proceeding with around the same level of success and organization.

"I say, Trixie," Fancy Pants said uneasily to the tense-looking aqua mare sitting on the velvet-cushioned stool on the opposite side of the coffee table, "have you been sleeping properly lately? Your eyes are looking a little... well, red..."

"My sleep schedule is fine. Not that it's any of your business." replied Trixie flatly, the glow in her eyes flaring a little.

"Ahem... yes, of course, my apologies. Not proper to question a lady's sleeping habits, not proper at all. I'm sure you're perfectly capable of regulating your own rest periods." said Fancy Pants, sounding even more nervous.

In an attempt to disperse the increasingly hostile and awkward atmosphere that was building in the room, Fancy Pants decided to hastily change topic.

"What's that charming piece of jewelry you have around your neck, Trixie? I've never seen anything like it in my entire life! Is it an antique?" he asked, his eyes turning towards the shimmering amulet on Trixie's chest.

"You could say so," answered Trixie through gritted teeth, "but then you could also say it's nothing to do with you."

"I... er... well..." stammered Fancy Pants, not expecting Trixie's new-found aggressive streak.

"And another thing - you said there'd be tea and cakes. I see no tea and I see no cakes - I have a busy schedule of practicing ahead of me, and I can't waste time making pleasantries with you under false pretenses!" continued Trixie, narrowing her eyes.

"Ah...uh... but of course. I'll just go through to the kitchen and see what I have." replied Fancy Pants, a few beads of sweat forming above his now nervously-smiling face.

Trixie sat on her stool, her increasingly erratic thought processes straining to ponder coherently. What... am... I... doing? I really should take... this thing off, I'm making... myself look incredibly... rude! No... no, I can't take it off... need to keep it on so I can... try and adjust to it... before tomorrow night! Just... hope... I can adjust before I alienate everpony I know...!

At that moment, Fancy Pants re-entered the room carrying a silver tray in his teeth. Upon the tray was a dainty little cup and saucer filled with freshly brewed tea, and a small plate of assorted croissants. He set the tray down on the coffee table and gave Trixie a somewhat worried sideways glance.

"I'm afraid I don't have any cakes in at the moment," he said, "but I do have a delectable selection of flavored croissants, freshly baked this mor-"

Fancy Pants was cut off by a blue hoof swatting the plate of pastry treats off the table, sending them flying into the lounge wall.

"NO!" boomed Trixie, her eyes turning completely crimson as another surge of the amulet's corrupting energy flowed through her. "I DON'T WANT THAT. How DARE you waste Trixie's time with false promises of cake! If you can't provide what you invited me in for, then DON'T INVITE ME IN. Now if you don't mind, Trixie has a hard afternoon of practicing to do... my legendary shows don't just create themselves, you know!"

With this, Trixie stomped out of the room and out of the mansion's front door, slamming it hard behind her as she did so. Fancy Pants watched her angrily march down the garden path and out of the gates before letting out a sigh.

"Quite the firebrand, that one." he mused, "Poor little thing, I guess the nerves must be getting to her! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to polish these croissants off myself. If I hurry, I can get them off the floor before the fifteen-second rule is up!"

Several hours later, as midnight descended over the city, several of Canterlot's residents thought they could hear the sound of explosions and the crumbling of rocks coming from the mountains that surrounded the area. The sounds were distant and faint however, and anypony who heard them soon dismissed them as background noise. Unbeknown to them all, at the peak of a small mountain fifteen miles outside Canterlot, Trixie stood amid a crackling aura of deep red lightning.

Trixie had teleported into the mountains - with her now-pinpoint-accurate teleportation spell - to test the Amulet away from prying eyes. Working the Amulet's magic to its fullest extent, Trixie viciously smashed the giant rocks that surrounded her with a mere nod of her head, and fearful scarlet beams from her eyes instantly melted the broken pieces of stone into magma which rained down around her. As the last of the fiery orange rain splashed onto the rocky embankment on which she stood, Trixie stopped to catch her breath and admire the carnage she had created. Still-glowing lumps of semi-hardened magma steamed in the cool night air, and little more than gravel remained where a mighty row of standing stones had been only minutes previously. Trixie surveyed the scene and let out a laugh.

"Trixie is the most powerful equine OF ALL TIME!" she shrieked. "None of them would believe me. None of them ever thought I'd progress beyond a parlor magician! But Trixie has proven them wrong! Trixie has proven them ALL WRONG!"

All remaining semblance of sanity now buried deep beneath the Amulet's influence, Trixie's thoughts began to wander.

"Look at them all, the insignificant little whelps." she muttered in disgust as she observed the unknowing city from her vantage point. "All wrapped up in their pointless little bubbles of ignorance. All that wealth, all that status, all that prestige, wasted on ponies who neither appreciate nor deserve it. I don't even know why I'm performing for them tomorrow... with these powers, Trixie should not be a mere performer, existing only for the pleasure of others. If anything, they should live to please me!"

Trixie grinned as her Amulet-infused mind concocted a scheme.

"Tomorrow's show is going to be something these snobbish fools shall never forget!" she cackled. "It'll not only be the show that cements Trixie's place as the greatest magician of all time... but Trixie's place as the new ruler of all ponykind!"

Her new strategy decided, Trixie powered up the Amulet once more and resumed the wanton assault upon the mountainside, her destructive frenzy continuing long into the early hours.

A buzz of excitement coursed throughout the entire city as the sun rose the next morning, with ponies scurrying busily from place to place making preparations for the upcoming Gala that evening. Nopony even seemed to notice that one of the nearby mountains was half as tall as it had been the day before. They were all much too busy making last-minute purchase of dresses, suits and accessories, arranging transport to and from the castle, and some lucky Canterlot residents were even arranging dates!

Leech trotted slowly through the bustling streets, occasionally stopping to take in a sip of the delicious excitement that hung in the very air around him, perking him up considerably after another chilly night's sleep in the wagon. Yet even this deluge of joviality and the fact nopony had insulted him as they trotted past couldn't lift Leech's spirits entirely.

"Leech zzsuppozzezz Leech had better go to cazztle library and find bookzz on amuletzz. Tattle pony zzsaid he needed to know more." he sighed, turning around and heading back towards the castle.

Entering the deserted repository of literature, Leech sat himself down at one of the library's many wooden study desks. Upon it, rather conveniently, was a book entitled 'MacGuffin's Guide to Magical Artifacts'. Trixie, in her rush to begin her search for the Alicorn Amulet several days previously, had neglected to put the book away before leaving.

"Zzsome other pony muzzt have been zzstudying amuletzz too!" Leech buzzed. "Izz shame whoever it wazz izz too zzsilly and lazzy to put bookzz away! Zzstill, zzsavezz Leech from zzsearching!"

Turning the tatty brown cover of the book over, Leech concentrated hard as he began to decipher the words on display before him. Hours ticked by as Leech took in each printed character, sometimes taking a few moments to make sense of some of the more complicated words before progressing to the next one. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Leech grinned contentedly as the first gruelling phase of his task was complete.

"That'zz the contentzz page!" he said to himself, a satisfied smile on his face. "Now Leech will try and read page two!"

Looking up at the clock, however, Leech's smile quickly dropped from his face.

"Zzseven hourzz? It took Leech zzseven hourzz to read that one page? Izz nearly time for Gala, Leech izz zzsuppozzed to be covering Gala for Zzsnap Happy! Leech will juzzt have to flick through book and look at picturezz!"

Quickly turning over the pages, Leech's smile returned when he happened upon an illustration of the Alicorn Amulet.

"That'zz the one!" he cried out loud. "But there'zz zzso much writing about it! Will take Leech far too long to read it all!"

"Whatcha doin?" asked a voice from directly behind Leech.

"AAAGH!" yelled Leech in surprise, before whirling around and coming face-to-face with Pinkie Pie, dressed in her full Gala regalia.

"Shouldn't you be at the Gala, Leechy? Hehe... Leechy. That sounds like lychee, and I love lychees! Do you like lychees, Leechy?" Pinkie rambled, not even pausing for breath.

"Leech izz trying to read book about amuletzz." Leech answered, entirely disregarding Pinkie's query about his fruit preferences. "But Leech izz having trouble reading zzsome of thezze wordzz..."

"No problem!" Pinkie said, scooping the book up in her forehooves. "I'll read it for you. But I'll have to be quick... I just came in here to find a couple of cookbooks, so I can get some new ideas for my desserts! I might even quickly whip up a few during the Gala, since I'm in charge of catering and all!"

"Shouldn't prinzzezzezz have zzsorted that zzstuff?" asked Leech.

"Well yeah, but they got called away to some urgent stuff in Saddle Arabia, they're not sure if they'll be back before the Gala is over. So me and the girls have been put in charge of some parts of the Gala! Isn't that exciting? Me and Applejack are in charge of catering, Dashie's organizing the firework display, Rari-" Pinkie began to reply.

"Pink pony... pleazze, Leech needzz to hear about amuletzz!" Leech interrupted.

"Oh, yeah... sorry!" replied Pinkie, as she began to read the Alicorn Amulet's history to Leech.

Leech listened in rapt attention as Pinkie described to him how the Amulet was created, and how it had been used to remove and contain the powers of unicorns who had broken the law. With the history of the Amulet nearly completed, Pinkie began to read the paragraph that Trixie had elected to skip over.

Knowing such power could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hooves, the Royal Sisters took turns at wearing the Alicorn Amulet around their own necks, in order to keep it safe. To further protect the amulet, the collar on which it is mounted was imbued with a magical lock, that would only open when whichever Princess wearing the amulet wanted it to. Although the sisters could handle the energies contained within, a regular unicorn using the amulet would quickly come to regret their decision.

Whilst the Amulet does contain the combined powers of five hundred unicorns, that power is tainted by the evil unicorns' malice and hatred. An average pony wearing the amulet would soon find their mind overwhelmed by this negative energy, causing a rapid onset of insanity and loss of self. A non Alicorn wearing the amulet would very quickly become hyper-aggressive, emotionally unstable, and develop a powerful urge to subjugate and exploit everypony and everything around them, just as the corrupt unicorn clans did all those years ago. This makes the Alicorn Amulet one of the most dangerous of all known magical charms, as well as the most powerful.

"Wowee!" giggled Pinkie. "I wouldn't want to meet a pony wearing that thing! They'd be loco in the coco, not to mention a massive Meanie McMeaniepants too! Well, Leechy, I'd better grab those cookbooks and head back to the Gala hall, it'll be starting soon! Are you coming?"

Leech said nothing. He simply stared at the ceiling in stunned disbelief.

"Umm... Leechy?" said Pinkie, waving a hoof in front of his eyes.

"Pinky pony needzz to fetch other Element poniezz! Right now!" gasped Leech, snapping out of his trance. "Leech hazz made a terrible mizztake... Trixzzie izz in danger, and zzso izz everypony elzze! We muzzt zzsave her!"

"In danger? What's Trixie in danger from?" asked Pinkie, cocking her head slightly in confusion.

"Herzzelf!"

Author's Note

7 month hiatus... and it's another setup chapter. XD

I must admit, this story was actually canceled for quite a while. I'd lost interest in the whole writing thing, and remained unsure of my own decision to make this a three-part series.

However, it's amazing what a simple post can do. A rather nice person known only as Telaros made a really rather impassioned post about the Leech series and its cancellation on my profile page, and it was then that I knew I had to finish this. For honor! For glory! FOR GREAT JUSTICE!

So, here we go again! Also, the first person to make any sort of quip about Fancy Pants' cake being a lie gets... um... I haven't worked out the punishment yet. But you won't like it. :P

So, here's a chapter. See you in another 7 months! XD