城堡离小马镇中心并不远。但崔克茜已经忘记，在咒语的作用下，自己的蹄子有多么沉重。蜿蜒曲折的小巷里，她拖着蹄子在鹅卵石上跋涉，每走一步都要花上平常两倍的时间。她向蹄子发射减重咒希望能减轻负担，可惜没有任何效果，只是在发光的表面上发出轻微的咝咝声。

「这真是太枯乏无味！」崔克茜无力叫道。回到她的拖车那需要花费特别长的时间！崔克茜迫不及待想到达那里。她想着一到家，就把自己的表演整个改头换面，把自己全新的特殊才能展现出来。

会有水，会有光，还会有数不清的闪闪发光的宝石。虽然想清楚它们还得花些时间，但这绝对值得。崔克茜确信，她马上就能站在星鬃身旁，一边喝着苹果酒，一边交流幻术秘诀和魔术师八卦。

「崔克茜！」星光熠熠在她身后喊，把她从崇高的白日梦中拉了回来。「等等我们！」

蓝色独角兽转过身，看到星光和瑞瑞向她飞奔而来。不出所料，她们脸上都带着关切的表情。小马镇的每匹小马不是傻嘻嘻地笑，就是在为「友谊问题」烦恼。又来了，崔克茜想。她做好了挨训的准备。

「很抱歉我不得不像那样突然离开水疗中心，」崔克茜道歉道。她小心翼翼地把她的金色蹄子藏在她的星空斗篷里，「我有个表演的好点子，必须得马上离开，免得忘了是什么。」她紧张地对瑞瑞笑了笑，「你知道灵感来时是什么样！得赶紧握住它的蹄尖……」

「当然。」瑞瑞点点头，微笑着回答。「魔法灵感女神变幻莫测！」她瞟向星光熠熠，发出娇滴滴的哼哼声；要么是她得了重感冒，要么就是她们间有什么暗号。崔克茜挑起一道怀疑的眉毛。

「我们想和你谈点事，」星光爽朗提议。「用不了多长时间……」

突然，一团烟雾在她们中间炸开！星光和瑞瑞又咳又喘，四处寻着崔克茜。待烟雾散去，她们以为崔克茜会像往常一样消失不见，没想到她只走了几步远。崔克茜沮丧地用她正常的蹄子跺着地。她的惯用伎俩在沉重的蹄子前毫无作用。「啊，这也是我最后一个烟雾弹了。」

她回头看了看朋友们。「不管是什么，都给我稍稍。」崔克茜气呼呼地回答。「如果我想在星鬃盛会前准备好全新的表演，就得着手设计我新的难以置信、令马震惊、令马惊掉下巴的壮……」她的声音逐渐变小，被远处聚集的一小群小马分散了注意力。他们似乎在检查地上的什么东西。也许是一匹小马丢了零钱包。

「还有耀晶石！」飞板璐叫道，踢了踢一块嵌在地里的石头。

「我真不敢相信，到处都是！」臭钱俯下身，眼里闪烁着贪婪的期待。他环顾四周马群，意识到了自己的疏忽，「我是说……呃……没有！这里什么都没有！走开！」他迅速俯地，将宝石藏在身下，意图之后取出据为己有。

越来越多好奇的小马停下查看骚乱的源头。崔克茜忍不住了，她也要凑个热闹！她飞奔过去，瑞瑞和星光紧随其后。

不一会，所有的小马都发现，最耀眼的光芒就在他们中间——那就是崔克茜自己。她的蹄子来回移动，在地上划出一个个小图案。她每走一步，脚下的石头就亮一下，随即闪烁着稀有宝石的标志性光芒。

「看……」一匹淡黄色的飞马说，「崔克茜碰到的一切……都变成了耀晶石！」

「哇啊。」镇民们惊奇地叫起来。瑞瑞和星光交换了一个紧张的眼神。看来暮暮是对的，魔法对崔克茜的影响越来越大了。

丝毫不错！崔克茜从水疗中心小跑出的直接路径上，布满了闪闪发光的魔法残迹。不知出于什么奇怪原因，崔克茜的蹄子现在已经不限依靠水珠才能创造出耀晶石，它现在被咒予能将任何东西，哪怕平平无奇的石头，都变成稀有的宝石。

「退后！光辉灿烂崔克茜还有重要的事情要做！」她叫道。「但如果你想更多地了解这壮丽的奇迹，明天就来中心城看我的表演吧！」

想到能用新发现的能力给星鬃协会留下深刻印象，崔克茜激动不已。

遥远城市和异国他乡张开双蹄欢迎她的景象在诱惑着她。幻想中，崔克茜将不仅仅是一个协会魔术师，还将是星鬃衣钵的继承者：一位光芒四射的女神。她有能力创造出璀璨的宝石，给观众带来欢乐与喜悦。小马们会对她的魔术专长和独特天赋拜倒在她蹄下。

明天即是崔克茜的夜晚。她觉得有责任让自己的崇拜者们得偿所愿，以及立刻向星鬃协会的小马们证明她出类拔萃！崔克茜只需一点点水，就能让宝石如雨般降下。

原文：

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.