Follow the Yellow Trick Road

The castle wasn’t far from the center of Ponyville, but Trixie had forgotten just how heavy her hoof was while under the spell. Every step took twice as long as she trudged through the winding backstreets, dragging her hoof over the cobblestones. She shot a burst of magic at it, hoping to employ a featherlight spell to ease the weight. The zap took no effect, pinging on the glowing surface with a tiny fizz.

“This is oh-so tedious and tiresome!” Trixie groaned. It was taking forever to get back to her wagon! She was so eager to arrive because once she was there, Trixie planned to revamp her whole act to feature her brand-new special talent.

There would be water, there would be light, and there would be tons of sparkling gems. It would take some extra work to figure out, but it would be well worth it. Trixie was positive that she would be standing next to Starmane herself, exchanging secret illusionist tips and magician gossip over ciders in no time.

“Trixie!” Starlight Glimmer called out from behind her, yanking Trixie from her lofty daydreams. “Wait up!”

The blue Unicorn spun around to see Starlight and Rarity galloping toward her. Unsurprisingly, they had concerned expressions on their faces. Everypony in Ponyville was always either grinning like a filly in a candy shop or fretting about a “friendship problem.” Here we go again, thought Trixie. She steeled herself for a lecture.

“Sorry I had to duck out of the spa like that,” Trixie apologized. She was careful to hide her golden hoof inside her starry cloak. “I had a great idea for my show and had to leave immediately before I forgot what it was.” She smiled nervously at Rarity. “You know how it is when inspiration strikes! Got to grab it by the hoof.…”

“Of course,” Rarity replied with a nod and a smile. “The magic muse is a fickle mare!” Her eyes darted to Starlight Glimmer. She made a dainty grunting noise. Either she was developing a nasty cold or it was some sort of code between the two of them. Trixie raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“We wanted to talk to you about something,” Starlight offered brightly. “It won’t take long.…”

Suddenly, a cloud of smoke burst among the ponies! Starlight and Rarity coughed and sputtered, looking around for Trixie. A moment later when it cleared, they expected Trixie to have vanished as per usual, but she was only a few steps farther away. Trixie stomped her normal hoof on the ground in frustration. Her usual tricks were no good with her heavy hoof. “Awww. That was my last smoke bomb, too.”

She turned back to her friends. “Whatever it is, it’ll have to wait,” Trixie replied in a huff. “If I’m going to be ready with a whole new act in time for the Starmane Society ball, I need to get to work designing my new incredible, astonishing, flabbergasting feat of…” She trailed off, distracted by a small group of ponies gathering in the distance. They seemed to be inspecting something on the ground. Perhaps a pony had lost her coin purse.

“More Glowpaz!” yelled Scootaloo. The filly kicked her hoof on the piece, but it was lodged in the ground.

“I don’t believe it. It’s everywhere!” said Filthy Rich, leaning down. His eyes began to twinkle with greedy anticipation. He looked around at the crowd, realizing his mistake. “I mean… uh… never mind! Nothing to see here! Go away!” The stallion plopped down his flank, trying to hide the gem until he could extract it and keep it for himself.

The group began to grow larger as more curious ponies stopped to check out the source of the commotion. Trixie couldn’t help herself. She had to see it for herself! She galloped to the group, Rarity and Starlight following close behind.

It didn’t take long for everypony to see that the brightest glow of all was standing right among them—it was Trixie herself. She shifted back and forth on her hooves, making a little pattern on the ground. The stones beneath her lit up with each step and began to pulse with the trademark glow of the rare gem.

“Look…” said a pale-yellow Pegasus. “Everything Trixie touches… turns to Glowpaz!”

“Whoaaaa.” The townsponies cooed in awe. Rarity and Starlight exchanged a nervous look. It looked like Twilight was right, and the magic was starting to affect Trixie more and more.

It was true. Even the direct path in which Trixie had trotted from the spa was now littered with a glittering trail of remnants. For whatever strange reason, Trixie’s hoof had progressed from just creating Glowpaz out of water droplets. It had been cursed with the ability to turn anything, even ordinary stones, into rare jewels.

“Stand back! The Brilliant and Luminous Trixie has important things to do!” she barked. “But if you’d like to see more of this magnificent marvel, come to my show in Canterlot! Tomorrow.”

Trixie was bursting at the thought of using her newfound power to impress the Starmane Society.

Visions of being greeted with open hooves in far-off cities and exotic lands taunted her. In them, Trixie would be more than just a Society magician—she would be the successor to Starmane’s legacy herself: a glowing goddess with the ability to entertain and delight by spectacularly creating beautiful, sparkling gems. Ponies would fall at her hooves in reverence for her magical expertise and unique gift.

Tomorrow was Trixie’s night. She felt a sense of duty to give her admirers what they were clamoring for and to show those Starmane Society ponies she was the cream of the crop right away! All Trixie needed was a little water to make it rain.