Alterverse: Aftermath

by Lord King Cocoon

Ch 3: The Great and Powerful Dinky!

Trixie walked up to the door and knocked.

“Who is it?” Ditzy’s voice was heard through the door.

“It’s Trixie, from the other day,” Trixie replied, “I came by because I wanted to check up on Dinky to see how she’s doing.”

“Just a moment,” Ditzy said. After a short wait, the sound of a few clicks of locks being unlocked was heard before the door opened to reveal Ditzy, with Dinky at her side.

At first glance, Dinky didn’t look too affected by the events from the previous day. But Trixie took note of the fact that she seemed to be intentionally keeping rather close to her mother. Ditzy stepped aside, inviting the showmare in.

“So, would you like some tea, or a muffin?” Ditzy asked as she watched Trixie enter.

“Do you have watermelon tea?” Trixie asked, “It’s a favorite of mine.”

Ditzy seemed perplexed at the idea, “I didn’t even know they made watermelon tea,” she said.

“Don’t worry about that. I’m okay with whatever you have,” Trixie sighed, “I’ve been told that I have an odd sense of taste. Perhaps it’s from where I grew up.”

“Well, ‘odd’ isn’t a synonym for ‘bad’,” Ditzy said as Trixie sat down on the couch, “Watermelon tea does sound good. Ooh, I gotta see if there are any recipes for watermelon muffins!”

Trixie’s mouth began to water, “Ooh, that does sound…” Trixie shook her head, getting her thought process back on track, “We can discuss that later. I’m here to check on Dinky after all.”

Trixie looked to Dinky. Ever since she arrived, the filly had a wide grin. Trixie recalled how Ditzy told her about Dinky being her fan.

“You’re the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Dinky said in a voice that was blatantly intended to restrain her excitement.

“Yes,” was Trixie’s only response.

“You’re the famous magician, the Great and Powerful Trixie!” Dinky’s restrained excitement rising.

“Saying I’m famous is probably an exaggeration. But I like to think that I’m well known.”

“The Great and Powerful Trixie is here to check on me!”

“Well, I also checked on your two friends. But yes.”

At that point, Dinky could no longer restrain herself. Dinky then took a large breath of air, “OhmyLuna,ohmyLuna,ohmyLuna!!!TheGreatandPowerfulTrixie’sheretoseeme!!!I’myourbiggestfan!!!CanIhaveyourautograph?!Canyouteachmemagic?!Whotaughtyoumagic?!DidPrincessLunateachyou?!What’sitlikebeingPrincessLuna’sprotege?!Canyouintroducemetoher?!Who-” After that torrent of questions in a single breath, Dinky suddenly felt dizzy.

“Dinky, breath!” Ditzy said, rushing to her daughter so that she doesn’t fall and hurt herself.

Trixie smiled at the scene, “I’ve got to give her credit. She can hold a lot of air in her lungs to be able to say that much in a single breath,” Trixie laughed as she did her best to break down the torrent of information she received, “A lot of ponies claim to be my biggest fan. Yes, you can have my autograph. I’ll be starting magic lessons at the start of summer at the local magic shop, but I could train you personally if you’re up for it. I’m actually self-taught. Being the protege of the princess is like being taught by a famous magician. It’s a once in a lifetime experience that you’d be foolish to turn down. But there’s a much higher pressure on you to perform above expectations because they saw the higher potential in you. I can introduce you to her sometime. If you’re going to the Winter Moon Gala, I’ll introduce you.”

Ditzy looked towards Trixie in awe, “Wow! Dinky doesn’t get like that often. But when she does, few ponies are able to understand what she says,” Ditzy pointed out, still keeping Dinky steady, “I assume you have experience with similar scenarios?”

“I am the Great and Powerful Trixie after all, children in awe and wonder of me is part of the territory,” Trixie said, puffing her chest out in pride, “And more than a few will try to ask as many questions of me in as little time as possible. And I was taught that it’s rude to disregard their questions just because I couldn’t understand them. So I trained myself to interpret what I call ‘Single Breath Paragraphs’.”

“So, are you like me and listen for key words?” Ditzy asked.

“In a way, that’s part of it. But it’s more complicated than that,” Trixie answered, “I used to ask the children to repeat themselves. However, most of them would either feel like I wasn’t listening, or repeat themselves at a rapid pace again. There were a few children who wouldn’t mind repeating themselves slowly, perhaps because it meant they got to spend more time with me… I mean, who wouldn’t?” Ditzy and Dinky were looking at Trixie strangely from her boasting, “Sorry, force of habit. It was happening too often for my taste. So I began training myself by playing music at double speed. At first I was playing the same songs over and over until I could understand what was in the song when sped up. But I learned that it was working partly because I was memorizing the lyrics. So I started listening to more songs, including ones I didn’t know. This helped in my training. I was able to make out the song at higher speeds. And that’s how I learned to listen to Single Breath Paragraphs.”

“Wow, that’s impressive,” Ditzy said.

“Well, maybe the end result is impressive. But it took me a couple of years to train myself adequately,” Trixie explained, “Listening to someone talking isn’t the same as listening to music, where the lyrics are rhythmic. And I wouldn’t say that I’ve mastered it yet either. But the main downside to this is that whenever I hear one of those songs, it sounds like it’s playing too slowly.”

“Do you think I could learn that?” Dinky, who had finally caught her breath, said.

“It’s a long process, but I don’t see why not,” Trixie said with a smile, earning a smile from the filly, “As I recall, I believe that you were about to ask me another question before you ran out of breath.”

Dinky perked up at this, remembering that she wasn’t done with her questions, “That’s right! I had another question,” Dinky then calmed down to speak at a normal pace, “You probably get asked this question a lot, just like all the other questions. But who are your parents?”

Trixie’s ears folded back, indicating how she felt about the topic, “I’ve never actually been asked that question before. Not that I minded. I don’t have the best relationship with my family,” Trixie noticed that Dinky seemed to regret asking that question. Trixie tried to lift up the filly’s spirits, “Don’t get me wrong. We’re not on bad terms or anything like that. It’s just an awkward relationship. My father is also a magician who has a show in Las Pegasus. Perhaps you’ve heard of him. The Magnificent Jack Pot!”

“I’ve never heard of him,” Ditzy said.

“Neither have I,” Dinky agreed.

“Well, I suppose being the Princess’s Personal Protege gave me an edge on popularity,” Trixie continued, “But that’s not important. We do have a bit of a rivalry as magicians. Nothing negative. Just a friendly rivalry. And we even get together once a year. We put on a show, competing to see who’s the best in a magic duel. The reason our relationship is awkward is because… of…”

Trixie paused as she shut her eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling. Ditzy got up and walked over to Trixie pulling her into a hug to comfort her, her motherly instincts taking over, “Shh shh shh… It’s okay. You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to,” Ditzy said as she rubbed Trixie’s back.

A shiver went up Trixie’s spine before she pulled away from the hug, “No!” Trixie gasped before taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out to calm her nerves, “I’m sorry. I appreciate that you’re trying to comfort me. But the way you did it was bringing up some bad memories for me. So don’t take it personally.”

“I’m sorry, I should’ve-”

“You couldn’t have known, so you have nothing to be sorry about,” Trixie said, cutting off Ditzy, My moth-” Trixie’s mouth went dry as more emotions came to the forefront. She took a breath and continued, “My mother’s name was… Let’s just say that I inherited my name from her. But she was more commonly known as Spectacle, since that was her stage name. My mother and father met on stage, my mother being one of my father’s ‘lovely assistants’. He has several of them. But he always had a special place in his heart for her. And to keep it child friendly, let’s just say that I was the end result. My Grammy… some would say that she spoiled me often, buying me toys or candy, taking me to amusement parks or other fun places, etcetera. But Grammy made me earn what she gave me. If she bought me a toy, she told me to make good use of it, or she would take it away, teaching me to value my gifts. When she bought me candy, she told me that that’s all I get until the next time she visits, teaching me to save my candy for later and be responsible. When she took me places, it was only after confirming that I had been a good girl since the last time I visited, teaching me to… exaggerate.”

“You lied to her, didn’t you?” Ditzy asked in a disapproving tone only a mother could give.

Trixie suddenly felt like a little filly caught with her hoof in the cookie jar. She shrank down into a timid posture as a blush spread across her cheeks, her voice matching her posture, “No… I wasn’t lying. I was just stretching the truth a little,” Trixie noticed Ditzy raised an eyebrow, “I mean, I was just a filly back then. It’s not like anypony expected me to be a perfect little angel. And it’s not like I was a bad girl… most of the time. Besides, telling stories was fun. And when my Grammy found out, she still wanted to hear my stories. That’s how I learned to turn my magic shows from flashy tricks to engaging tales.”

Ditzy’s expression softened, “I don’t approve of promoting lying.”

“I wasn’t lying!” Trixie countered.

“But since there was no harm done, I’ll forgive you.”

“Thanks, I…” Trixie paused, realizing what she was doing, “Wait, why do I need you to forgive me? The only pony that needs to forgive me is my Grammy. And she already has.”

“True. But I still forgive you,” Ditzy said with a sly grin, “Just consider my forgiveness as a bonus.”

Trixie let out a sigh of resignation, “Whatever. I didn’t come here to tell my life story,” Trixie said defeated before sitting back up and looking back at Dinky, “I came here to see how you were doing. And I noticed that you’ve been a bit clingy to your mother. Can I assume that it’s because you don’t want to let her out of your sight?”

Dinky slowly responded with a nod.

“And would it be safe for me to assume it’s related to the foalnapping?”

“Yes…” Dinky squeaked out.

“It’s because you feel that as long as your mother’s nearby, you’ll be safe,” Trixie grinned, “And from what I saw from her the other day, that feeling isn’t just blind faith. But you can’t help but feel like if you lose sight of her, you don’t know if you’ll ever see her again. And it’s okay to feel scared. But we also need to work on that.”

“But how?”

“Well, I think the process has already started,” Trixie said, her grin growing, “As I was just talking with you now, you were so focused on me that you didn’t even notice that your mother went into the kitchen and got us ice cream.”

Dinky’s eyes widened. She looked around to see her mother and three bowls of chocolate ice cream were on the table next to them.

“I think the healing process starts with having others to trust in,” Trixie continued, “You put enough trust in me that you allowed yourself to pull your attention away from your mom. Perhaps it wasn’t for long. But from what I saw when I first arrived, that’s a big step.”

“Either that or you’re just obsessed with the fact that Trixie is talking to you personally,” Ditzy said, a sly grin on her face as she took a bite of ice cream.

Trixie grabbed her ice cream and took a bite of her own, “I suppose that’s a possibility,” Trixie admitted after swallowing her bite, “But even so, if I can distract her from you in that way, it’s a start.” Trixie levitated the third bowl to Dinky, who happily took it.

“You said you would give Dinky personal magic lessons,” Ditzy pointed out, “But you also said you’d be doing public lessons. If there are public lessons, what’s the point?”

“Well, there are a couple of reasons,” Trixie said before downing another bite, “The first is that I’d be able to focus specifically on her in one on one sessions. The second is that the public lessons will generally only be for simple tricks like parlor tricks and card trick. But with a personal magic student, I can focus on teaching her the more advanced tricks that you see on stage that can’t easily be replicated at home.”

Trixie and Ditzy watched as Dinky’s eyes lit up in awe, “You mean like sawing a pony in half?!” the filly exclaimed, “Or escape tricks?! Or making things disappear?!”

“That about sums up the basics,” Trixie said, “Of course, those are the more generic tricks. I can teach you more unique tricks. And it would be fun to have a Great and Powerful Assistant in my shows.”

The grin on Dinky’s face looked like it would split her head in half.

“Keep in mind though, learning stage magic will take away some of the wonder when you learn how the tricks are done,” Trixie said.

“But if it’s a good show, then it doesn’t matter if I know how it’s done. And you are Great and Powerful when it comes to making a good show!” Dinky said before perking up again, “Wait here! I wanna show you something!” Before they could even question it, Dinky went running off to her room.

“So… Do you know what she’s going in her room to get?” Trixie asked.

“Yes and no,” Ditzy replied, “I do know that she’s been working on a magic trick of her own. But I don’t know what it is.”

“It’s probably a simple parlor trick that anypony can learn,” Trixie said, “But I’m curious about it myself. And it can’t hurt to humor her. Great magicians often start off with nothing more than parlor tricks. And the fact that she told us to wait here, as in both of us, is a great improvement from what I saw of her earlier.”

“You’re telling me,” Ditzy said with a sigh, “Ever since you came today, it’s the most time I’ve had without Dinky glued to my side. I love her to death, but there’s only so much of it I can take.”

Dinky then came running back out wearing a towel like a cape and a generic magic hat, a couple of boxes and pieces of plastic hovering in her magic aura. Trixie took note that the boxes were connected at a corner, creating a hinge. This intrigued the showmare. Dinky then spoke up, emulating Trixie’s own style, “Welcome fillies and gentlecolts, and witness a feat of magic never before seen!” As Dinky began her speech, Trixie eyes began to glow blue as she was watching for any arcane magic to make sure the filly wasn’t cheating with her horn, “In ancient times, ponies would punish criminals by using horren… horri… really mean torture devices. But I, the Great and Powerful Dinky, found one such device. It was used to torture ponies by separating their limbs from theri bodies! Please inspect these blades to make sure that they are real,” Dinky then levitated the plastic squares to the two adults before breaking character for a moment, “I know they’re just pieces of plastic. But can you play along for now?”

The two adults looked over the ‘blades’ before returning them, giving Dinky the okay to continue. Trixie saw that though Ditzy was enjoying the show, she did seem slightly nervous. If it weren’t for the fact that the torture device was just plastic and cardboard, she would’ve been concerned for her daughter’s safety. Trixie also was impressed, seeing as this wasn’t just an everyday parlor trick.

Dinky took back the ‘blades’ and put her right forehoof into the boxes, the tip popping out at the end, “I have found this device, and intend on overcoming the torture that it has in store for me!” Dinky lifted the front of the boxes to show her leg in the box. After lowering the flaps and concealing her leg once again, she then slid the two ‘blades’ in between the two boxes, being held in place by small slits. Once the two ‘blades’ were in place, the mini-magician swung the boxes on their hinge, her foreleg seemingly detached from the rest of her body.

Ditzy’s eyes went wide in a combination of awe and terror. The awe was in such an elaborate trick, even if it was just cardboard and plastic. The terror was in seeing her daughter’s leg disconnected from her body. Her rational mind, which knew it was just a trick with cheap materials, battled with her emotional mind, her motherly instincts desperate to get her little filly help.

Trixie had been analyzing the trick, breaking down the pieces in her head. It didn’t take her long to figure it out. But she just needed a few more details just to be sure, “May I take a look at the back of it?” she asked. The filly nodded, and the showmare saw the back. What she saw confirmed her assumption about the trick and smiled. Trixie then saw the conflict in Ditzy’s eyes. So she went back to her seat next to Ditzy and rubbed her back, “It’s okay. It’s just a trick.”

“I know. But I can’t help being a mother,” Ditzy responded, but sat and let her daughter finish the trick.

Dinky then reconnected the boxes. She used her magic to pull the ‘blades’ out, then she took the boxes off, revealing her perfectly intact foreleg with a proud “Tada!” Ditzy ran over to her daughter to check on her, if nothing more than to ease her worry. After the impromptu checkup, the filly had a hopeful grin on her face, “So, what did you think?! Did you like it?! Was it a good magic trick?!”

“That was amazing!” Ditzy exclaimed in awe, “How did you do it?!”

“A Great and Powerful magician never reveals her secrets. It’s the Magician’s Code,” Trixie said for the filly, “I’m quite impressed at such an advanced magic trick developed on your own for what I assume is your first magic trick. It’s also no more complicated than it needs to be. And you told a good story to go along with it. Was that story historically accurate?”

The glee on the filly’s face was infectious, “Well, it’s kind of accurate,” the filly admitted, “It’s actually a combination of two different torture devices. That’s for the story anyway. I thought of the trick before I thought of the story.”

“Perhaps the story should be modified so that it doesn’t contradict history,” Trixie said, “Rather than making it an ancient torture device, point out that it’s a modern take of the two torture devices. Or perhaps it is ancient, but is the only one of its kind. My point is that anyone who would look into it would find the flaws in the story.”

“Would you use this trick in your show?” the filly asked.

“No,” the showmare said bluntly, causing the filly’s smile to falter, “I won’t use that trick in my show because you will use it in your show. You made that trick yourself, so it should be you who reveals it to the world.” Dinky’s eyes widened in awe before…

THUMP

Trixie wasn’t sure what to think about what she just witnessed. But Ditzy came to clarify, “I’ve got to give her credit,” Ditzy said, holding back a giggle, “For as much of a fan that she is of you, I’m surprised it took her this long to faint at your praise.”

“So… am I…” Trixie said, unsure of what to think, “Either ponies are composed enough to not faint, or they faint before they can even properly interact with me.”

“Well, how many composed fans have the chance to interact with you on such a personal level?” Ditzy asked hypothetically, “Even more composed ponies can falter if you break them down enough. And being a mother requires you to build up a resistance, so I can speak from experience.”

Trixie smiled at that. She intended to wait for Dinky to wake up, assuming it was soon. But she was considering getting on her way.

“Is there a certain day and time of the week that would be okay for me to train her?” Trixie asked, getting a good idea of what to do, “I figured that weekdays are out of the question, for obvious reasons. Unless it’s in the summer, but that limits the time. Or it could be after school on weekdays. But I was thinking Sundays are an option. I plan on starting my magic training classes at the start of summer on Saturday. So I could make Dinky’s personal sessions on Sundays.”

“Sundays are good, as long as she has her school work done by then,” Ditzy said, “Do you think she’ll turn out to be a great magician like yourself?”

“It’s hard to say,” Trixie said, “But considering that she developed a more advanced trick on her own, I see potential for greatness.”

“Do you have to go so soon?” Ditzy asked, “I don’t want to keep you. But I don’t think we focused much on Dinky’s issues.”

Trixie thought that over. Though it was true that Dinky was showing improvement, the issue at hand wasn’t addressed. Most of the time taken up was for her talking about herself, and Dinky putting on a performance. They were distracting from the issue rather than facing it head on.

Dinky’s eyes fluttered open in a confused daze, “Huh… wha…” she mumbled as the memories of her idol’s praise returned to her, “I’m getting my own magic show?!”

Trixie held back a giggle at the filly’s reaction, “Eventually,” Trixie confirmed, “But I think we should start with you being my assistant.”

Dinky reacted by leaping to her hooves and suddenly hugging Trixie. Taken off guard, Trixie returned the hug.

“I’m glad you like the news,” Trixie said, “But now, I think we should talk about what happened to you when you were foalnapped.”

Dinky suddenly went rigid at the mention, slowly inching her way towards her mother. The topic struck a nerve.

Author's Note:

I actually suffered some writer's block on this chapter, which is why it took so long to post this story. Once I got past that hurdle though, this chapter actually ended up going in a slightly different direction than I had anticipated, which will lead Dinky's resolution in the next chapter to end completely differently than I had planned.

As for the magic trick I made for Dinky, it's actually a magic trick from a YouTube magician who teaches magic. It's actually relatively simple, and it's really just a modified version of sawing a person in half, just specifically localized on the arm. I upgraded the trick slightly, while downgraded the materials to everyday household materials that a child could use. As for the story Dinky made for the trick, I actually did take two real life torture techniques and combined them. One technique is the Iron Maiden (fun fact: the Iron Maiden, though it does actually exist, was never actually used). The other technique is simply sawing someone in half. What makes it torturous is that the sawing stops before it hits any vital organs. So rather than a quick and painful death, it's a slow and painful death. (If the plan is for the torture victim to die, then why draw it out? Just kill the victim and get it over with.)

And if you want to see the trick it's based on, here it is. (Go to the time stamp 2:59.)

Comments

[Comickook]

REALLY good work on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places. I particularly liked DInky's fan-girling of Trixie, Trixie sharing some details of her family history with Ditzy and Dinky (particularly her learning to tell tall tales from dealing with her grandmother) and Trixie's observations concerning Ditzy and Dinky's own family life. And, yeah, that kidnapping IS going to (rather understandably) be a very sore spot for quite some time to come.

Indeed, I'll DEFINITELY be looking forward to more of this.