The Big Reveal

“Ahhhhh!” Trixie screamed as she held up her hoof to inspect it. Not only was it glowing, it was now completely transparent!

Starlight galloped over. “What’s happening, Trixie? You didn’t tell me about this part!” she whispered in a panic. “Is this part of the act?”

“N-n-n-nooo!” Trixie shook her head in disbelief. Was this really happening to her while she was onstage, mid-trick? It was like an embarrassing dream, except it was real. She looked out to the audience. Ponies shielded their eyes as the hoof grew brighter. “Help me, Starlight!” she whispered out of the side of her mouth.

“I have an idea!” Starlight snapped into action. She galloped across the stage with a showy flourish as she retrieved the hose. Starlight used her magic to turn on the flow of water and tilt it up at an angle to create a beautiful, misty spray.

It obscured the stage with the combination of water and light from Trixie’s pulsing hoof, creating a dewy rainbow-filled curtain. It was enough to distract the crowd temporarily.

Starlight Glimmer was trying to think of what to do next when a gigantic red dragon landed on the stage! It screeched as it dove low above the heads of the ponies in the crowd. They looked up in surprise as the dragon’s massive wings caused gusts of air to blow through their manes. The dragon dove straight through the mist and burst through the back of the stage before taking off into the sky.

The crowd ooohed and aaahed. It didn’t even matter that the part of the trick where the dragon was going to cry funny tears hadn’t happened.

It was music to Trixie’s ears. She forgot all about her afflicted hoof and stepped out into the water to receive the praise and take a bow. Water rained down on her as she did her signature twirl. “Another impressive performance by the Great and Powerful Trixieeee!”

Within seconds, a small spray of golden droplets rained down onto the crowd, solidifying in midair like a sparkling hailstorm. The ponies close enough to the stage pulled them from their manes and retrieved them from the ground. Their faces glowed as they held the stone pieces in their hooves in awe.

“What is it?” asked one.

“It’s beautiful!” cried another.

“It’s Glowpaz!” shouted a pale-pink Pegasus. She held up a large piece in victory.

The aqua-colored Earth pony next to her smiled. “That’s one of the most valuable gems in Equestria!” The rest of the ponies scrambled to find a Glowpaz drop.

“Uhhhhhhh…” Trixie laughed nervously. “Voilà?” She glanced across the stage and met Starlight’s eye. Her friend’s gaze seemed to say, What exactly just happened here? Trixie gave her a tiny wink and maintained her hundred-watt smile. Because whatever odd spell Trixie had just conjured, it had been a Big Reveal to even the magician herself.

The sky was darkening over Ponyville as Trixie trudged to her favorite spot on the edge of the Everfree Forest. “Euuugh!” Trixie grunted, trying to lift her heavy hoof. Beads of sweat trickled down her muzzle. She was starting to feel a deep sense of dread inside. Despite the fact that Trixie had achieved her goal of impressing everypony, she knew that something was very wrong with her hoof. If she could only make it to her favorite thinking spot, she might be able to make some sense of the night’s odd events.

Finally, Trixie saw it. The trees arched in a frame over a secluded grassy spot that brushed a curve in the river. Trixie had stopped there on numerous occasions while passing through Ponyville. It was perfect for freshening up after a long day, which Trixie was desperately in need of right now.

The troublesome interaction with Rarity was still bothering her, but the truth was that Trixie couldn’t riddle out was the wonky performance. She replayed in her mind the events of the bizarre show as she dragged her leaden hoof through the dirt.

Trixie plopped down for a moment, exhausted. She held her heavy hoof up to her face for inspection. It was still glowing, but more faintly. Originally, the shock of seeing her hoof glow had thrown off Trixie. But she couldn’t deny the way she’d impressed the crowd with the water trick. It was a response she’d never felt from any audience before! Trixie had shocked them. She had awed them! It almost didn’t matter to her that “The Tears of the Dragon” hadn’t gone according to her plan. Maybe this glow-hoof trick was better than her original idea! It would really set her apart from other magicians hoping to woo the Starmane Society.

An image of Starmane herself pinning a Society brooch onto Trixie’s cloak danced around in her head. With this new talent, she was unstoppable.

But by the time Trixie had arrived at the water’s edge, the glow had pulsed to a faint light. “No, no, no!” Trixie whined as it faded away. She picked up her hoof with ease, the heaviness magically removed and the blue color restored. She was so disappointed that her glowing idea had fizzled out that she didn’t even feel like dipping her hooves into the cool stream anymore. She jumped in quickly and then stepped out again, slumping down in defeat. “Guess I’ll just head back to the castle,” Trixie mumbled to herself. So the pony took off back toward the castle at a gallop, failing to notice the tiny mass of glistening Glowpaz stones now forming in the river like little stars in a darkened sky.