//------------------------------//
// 3 Amplitude 
// Story: Trixie's Terrible Thamaturgical Troubles 
// by Snowdrifter 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight Sparkle landed with a little bit more grace than normal for her, transitioning from a glide to a canter before folding her wings. She was still nowhere near the aerialist that Rainbow Dash was, but where Dash was frantic energy, Twilight was discovering that alicorn wings were built for cruising, gliding on thermals, and making long-range flights. Ponyville was only two hours by train from Canterlot, but Twilight Sparkle had learned that she could fly there herself under an hour if she caught the midday thermals and gained altitude first.

She had touched down in Horseshoe Park, the place the letter from Fancy Pants had said he met Trixie. She whistled at the melted groove cut into the hillside, and reached out to check for residual magic. What she perceived was puzzling – it was static, like she was scanning a crowd. Trixie’s arcane signature was there, but it was almost lost in the background noise of thousands of arcane signatures. yep, it was official - something was wrong here.

Twilight spent several minutes interviewing people who had been there, and all the statements she received corroborated the letter from Fancy Pants. Trixie had released a blast almost as fierce as the ones Twilight had used against Tirek in their showdown. Trixie shouldn’t have been able to do that.

Waiting for her, as per her instructions in a letter Spike had sent, was Fancy Pants himself. He waved cordially to Twilight, even as others nearby paused to stare at their latest Princess. “Over here, Princess!” The older stallion waved, and fell in alongside Twilight as they walked. “A grand entrance, my dear. Most splendid.”

“I’m just glad I didn’t land roughly. I tried to issue a royal decree that new wings should come with an instruction manual, but Celestia called it ‘unreasonable’.” The lavender unicorn chuckled, “Besides, Cadence received a horn - she started as a pegasus in the first place. So, we’d need three or more manuals, and a way to get them to whomever needed them if they ascended… without knowing exactly who might ascend, when, and where.”

“Ah, a logistics nightmare. I daresay I am quite content to be a unicorn. Now, right this way, I can take you to the Clinic.” Fancy Pants and Twilight made idle chatter, but as they approached the clinic, Fancy slowed to a walk. “I am still at a loss to explain what I witnessed. Perhaps they can clarify it.”

With a nod, Twilight slowed to match his pace. “I have researched everything I could here, and asked my friend Moondancer to check the Canterlot Archives while I investigate the scene and look for Trixie. So far, neither of us has encountered documentation of such an anomaly. Also, there have been no reports of any other unicorns having a violent reaction to the restoration of magic after Tirek was defeated. I hope we can figure it out.”

Twilight’s curiosity was piqued, and once they reached the counter, she waited patiently for the receptionist. “Hi there, I am checking on a friend of mine – Trixie Lulamoon? I hear she was at the center of something unusual a couple of days ago. I need to speak with Dr. Chart about her.”

The bored receptionist sighed, barely looking up “Patient confidentiality, miss…”

“Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle.”

CRASH!

Now, of course, the receptionist was looking directly up at a confused Princess, having involuntarily flipped her chair backwards at the mention of the name. Somehow, she got up with remarkable haste. “One moment, Princess. Please, have a seat.”




Trixie sighed, but she wasn’t as distraught as she’d been earlier that week. She’d been doing her stage show all afternoon, and found that if she substituted a few more pyrotechnics and used her old smoke generator, she could work around the healing ring. In fact, she was now bragging about the feats of magic she could perform while wearing the inhibitor ring. After all, much of her gear had to respond to a very light touch, since she had to sometimes hide her aura from the audience to help with tricks. And slight of hoof and misdirection required no magic at all. 

“The Great and Powerful Trixie’s show is now over! Please deposit bits in the bucket here to stage left, so Trixie can continue performing!” as she went through the curtains, she could hear the satisfying clatter of metal into the bin. She got so much more per show these days, ever since she’d left some of the bragging behind with the Alicorn Amulet. And Canterlot nobility were easily entertained, readily convinced she had power, AND had plenty of bits to discard. It didn’t help that most of them had apparently never heard of Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle, or the Alicorn Amulet – in spite of having personally seen them save the city. Such insularity meant that none of them seemed as eager to fact-check her as others had in the past. Of course, she was also keeping it closer to the facts in any case.

It had been a week since she had been to the clinic, and through trial and error, she had learned exactly what her reduced magic could do. Recovering her bits bucket wasn’t one of them, she had to do that by hoof. With her bits secured, she began to use her latest invention, a sort of step-wheel that let her rapidly close her cart’s stage back up for the night.

Just as it clicked into place, she heard someone behind her. “Show’s closed for the… Twilight Sparkle?” She had started before turning around to see the Alicorn behind her. “Well, this is a surprise. Were you able to catch the show?”

Twilight shook her head, chuckling. ‘”Sorry, just arrived. You keep a lower profile these days. Mostly word of mouth, eh?”

“Please, the Great and Powerful Trixie needs no advertisement!” Trixie smirked and gestured flamboyantly, almost to the point of falling over.” Although if a Princess wants to give her magnificent show a royal endorsement, Trixie will try to remain… humble about it.” The showmare then laughed, “Come on in. I was just about to have tea.”




Twilight Sparkle had seen Trixie begin to pack up her wagon, but the healing ring on the showmare’s horn meant a magical scan was useless right now. She could detect the healing spell, and everything seemed right so far. Still, she had questions.

“How’s the healing spell working? I can see the ring is painted black, but it’s still detectable if you scan for it.”  Twilight sat comfortably in a chair, whilst Trixie used the bed in the small trailer. “Also, nice trailer – how’d you get it?”

Trixie made a comedically overacted grimace of shock and outrage whilst rising up on her hind legs aggressively and flailing with her forelegs, “The Great and Powerful Trixie...” she started, in full show pony mode, “… has an uncle who’s a carpenter.” With a smirk, she sat back down, whilst Twilight chuckled at the hammyness of it all. “She had to work it off, of course, but her family’s glad her head’s ‘out of the clouds’ now.”

“Good to hear. Do you remember anything about what happened to you? It sounds like it was an odd event.” Twilight Sparkle had produced a scroll and quill, and was looking at Trixie with a gaze both intent and curious.


"Now, now, Trixie isn’t giving interviews.” Trixie laughed, a genuine laugh this time. “Ok, all kidding aside,” Trixie dropped her stage persona with a deep breath, “I ruined my hat, covered myself in soot, and gave myself a headache. It was only an R-8 discharge, the doctor said-”

“Waitasec!” Twilight interrupted, eyes wide with shock. “No one told me it was that big. Do you know what this means?”

“Um, not really. Dr. Chart read me that the number, but my head was hurting so badly I didn’t press for details. He said I was lucky.”

“Trixie, let me show you something.” Twilight created a projected image, much like the ones Trixie had made when using the Alicorn Amulet. In it, Twilight could be seen blasting Tirek – which gave Trixie no end of satisfaction – with a massive blast that left Trixie’s jaw hanging open. ”Wow… um, about that rematch? NOT gonna happen. Hope you’re not disappointed…”

With a bit of a laugh, Twilight said, “Only a LITTLE. But that’s not just me. See, prior to this battle, Celestia, Luna and Cadence all shifted their powers to me, to keep Tirek from isolating any one of them and draining them separately. She replayed the massive blast, and her tone took on a clinical, measured style. “Trixie, this is a directed R-18 blast. Your blast would have been about half the size and power of this. So, let me edit it…”

The image now showed a Proud and Defiant Trixie instead of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Trixie shuddered visibly. “Ugh, I know how this played out. Although why Tirek didn’t steal all of Trixie’s magic is still beyond her.” Meanwhile, Twilight’s edited illusion played out, demonstrating a shock wave of Trixie’s pale pink aura carrying hundreds of green fireworks in it, fully 3 feet in diameter and shoving the shielded Tirek back along a similar – if shallower - trench, but only half to two-thirds as far. Tirek’s shield didn’t go down, and he recovered much more quickly. Twilight changed the scenario again, placing The Small and Illusionary Trixie outside a meticulous rendering of Horseshoe Park. She overlaid the Trixie-blast over the melted groove in the hillside, placed Trixie’s hat on a spot of soot, and calculated where to put the Trixie illusion. The pieces fell into place perfectly.

“So, what are you saying, Twilight? *I* made that mess? I was sure it was Tirek’s doing…”

“I scanned it, and your magic was in there, all right. Along with traces I recognized. Just off the top of my head I was able to pick out Moondancer, Rarity, myself and my brother, my mother and father, and dozens more; all contributing a tiny amount of power to the discharge. It’s bizarre, because they would have all had to be standing right… here.” She pointed to where the Tiny and Blue illusion of the illusionist was. “All together, at the same time, each one casting roughly your entire fireworks show for a night as a single casting, focused into a straight beam. In the same place. At the same time. For some of them, it would be trivial. For others, it would be challenging. Another mystery – Tirek’s raw magic wasn’t present at all. Neither was Discord’s. Only unicorn magic was present. Likewise, there’s another mystery – the manameter at the clinic pegged when I showed up, I was asked to conduct interviews outside the clinic so the device could be used. Apparently, the same malfunction occurred when you were there… and it shouldn’t have.”

“Maybe they need to calibrate it better? I mean, I see how the facts line up, but, I am, well, not capable of that sort of thing,” Trixie gestured at the image, still in disbelief. “Look, magicians aren’t supposed to spill their secrets, but I owe you. I never managed a manometer rating over a 2, resting state. I set up my show around hidden triggers that take a few pounds of force or foot pedals to activate. I augment one casting of Starswirl’s Skyrocket with illusions; usually delayed mirror images to make it look like I cast several fireworks at once. 80% of the result is a trick of the light. That’s how I’m able to stay on the road even with the healing ring on. Most of my ‘magic’, Twilight, is sleight of hoof.” 

Trixie’s face fell, and she rubbed at her eyes a bit, “Tirek surprised me, all alone just down the hill from Canterlot proper. He drained me, too. Well, he *tried* to drain me, but all we both saw was a little wisp of pink light. He even said the whole situation was embarrassing and left while laughing at me. ME! Can you believe it?" Trixie's theatrical guestures returned. Clearly, she couldn't resist her stage persona when telling a story, even when it was truth and not at all flattering to her. "But I was still able to walk, and when he wouldn’t’ come back and drain me properly, I came up the hill and tried helping other ponies. I couldn’t do magic, but I wasn’t, well, exhausted like everyone else. My cutie mark never faded, either. Finally, I decided to have a sit down by the park. I may not have been catatonic like every pony else, but I wasn’t feeling all that great.

“The next thing I know, I’m recovering from some sort of seizure, my hat’s on fire, and Fancy Pants is helping me stand. I saw you, and Rarity, up on the balcony briefly, and the rainbow was spreading away. From there the clinic, and you seem to know the rest.”

Twilight facehooved, ‘You mean to tell me you retained magic against Tirek? and somehow attacked the bark with it at a level I would find hard to duplicate?”

“Nope, I think he got what little I had." Red faced, Trixie sighed, clearly embarrassed about the whole thing, "I was so used to using just a little magic to augment the sleight of hoof work that I was better prepared to operate without it, I guess.” Trixie analyzed Twilight’s illusion again from several angles. “So, what really happened there? Oh, can you show the rainbow that restored power, and put it in the animation? Then I am so going to learn this spell from you…”




Trixie was not alright. The headaches had stopped weeks ago, and she was waiting for Dr. Charts to help her remove the ring. She was itching to have a go at it. Literally.

At first, the medicinal had been a relief, but as the days turned into weeks and Trixie’s careful enchantments began to break down, her act had suffered. She was out of prepared skyrockets, and her travel had been limited. She was eager to get back to proper shows rather than the low-key stuff she’d been forced to do. 

She’d made it to Hoofington, but had to turn back for supplies. Normally, she could craft her own, but the last batch had fizzled rather than sparked. She knew it was because she lacked the precision of horn-guided magic, and dividing the recipe into smaller batches was leading to trial and error alchemy.

And explosions. But nothing catastrophic. Nope. Not even that could compare to the itching!

That itch had started all around the base of her horn. It was slight, at first, but now it was almost maddening. At least she’d stuck it out. And Twilight Sparkle and Fancy Pants were both here as well, ready to celebrate. It was like she was having a cast removed – and, in a way, she was. 

Finally, Dr. Charts came in, grumbling about his manameter again. “An updated manameter powerful enough to give accurate readings for alicorns would be useless for ordinary unicorns. Nevertheless, we may have to design one.” The doctor paused, and did a double take, before readying the solvent. ‘Oh my, looks like a little skin infection, Trixie. This is going to sting, I’m afraid.”

Trixie gave the doctor a glare, ‘Just do it, right? Like removing an old bandage…”

The itching soon gave way to a stinging sensation, although the ring seemed to not want to come off. It took Twilight’s precision magic to get it off even after the epoxy had all been removed.

"Are medical rings normally fitted this tightly, Doctor?” Fancy Pants was quite curious, as it was clear the ring had to be unscrewed from Trixie’s horn, giving off little green sparks the whole time. "I dare say, I’ve never seen one with a custom fit to the spiral of a unicorn horn.”

Puzzled, the doctor took a closer look as the ring came off, the green sparks fading. “They don’t. One second. Trixie, don’t try any magic just yet, let’s get that rash treated… from the black paint on the ring, I should imagine. I also want to run a few tests.to make sure everything’s alright.”

“Trixie has waited this long, she can wait a little longer. It's best to make sure.”
The doctor returned with a curious look, lotion and and a set of calipers. It only took him a few seconds, ‘Well, if you do get a decorative horn ring, you’re now a size 7. When we fitted you, you were a size 6 ½. That’s what caused the ring to stick when we removed it. The paint didn’t help, though.”

Twilight spoke up, ‘But that’s highly unusual, isn’t it? I mean, adult unicorn horns slow down their growth significantly after puberty. Practically no pony goes up a horn size.”

Trixie gave the lavender alicorn a snarky glance, “Perhaps you missed the part where this whole thing was unusual? At least things will get back to normal now. Is it alright if I use my magic, Doctor? I’m thirsty, and there’s a glass of water over there…

“Sure, go ahead.”

A pale pink aura surrounded the glass, as Trixie enjoyed using her magic unrestrained. “Yep, everything’s back to normal.”

The glass slammed into the ceiling as if fired from a rocket, shattering into a cascade of splinters that arced downwards…