A week of gathering supplies, working with the deer musicians, and practicing in secret, had all lead to this. Her fellow ponies had known she was up to something, but had only shared her idea with Tormod. A smile grew across her face as she remembered his smile as she had explained just what she had in mind.

“This is a great idea,” he had said before he frowned. “But can you put on a show without your wagon?”

With a broad smile, she nodded. “Trixie is confident she can. Trixie can put on an amazing show even with the bare escentuals. She will have the musically talented deer to help her, as well as the Elder himself! He has already agreed to my idea and he will make sure the entire village will be present.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Make sure that Tourmaline and Wanderer are there too,” she had said while fidgeting with her hat. “It’s for them as well as for the deer.”

His smile grew. “What do—”

She had stuffed a hoof over his mouth and winked at him. “Trust the Great and Powerful Trixie to know what she is doing.”

So here she was behind a makeshift curtain, upon a makeshift stage the deer had set up for her at the village’s center. Her ears swiveled at the impromptu band of deer musicians as they tuned their instruments. They had promised her they could perform like she wanted, but still, a tinge of nervousness held her.

Looking up at the darkening sky, she knew it was almost time. Soon the Elder would arrive to address the growing crowd and she would then put on her first show in weeks.

As confident as she had felt up to this point, she couldn’t help but feel that familiar knot of dread forming in her stomach. She peeked past the curtain to see the large gathering of deer stare at her with curious or suspicious stares—many of them murmuring among themselves.

A sheepish grin slipped onto her face and she scanned the crowd for her pony friends. While she was glad to see some of the recovered Bringers were among the crowd—nervous as they were—Trixie sighed with relief when she spotted Wanderer and Tourmaline sitting beside Tormod and Faithful. While the former two looked confused, the latter two wore eager smiles—even if Faith’s was more restrained.

Trixie let the curtain fall back in place and sat on her haunches. ‘All right, Trixie, this is it. Your first show in over a month, and for a village of deer who aren’t happy about us being here. All in an effort to cheer everypony up.’ She took in a breath and let it out slowly. ‘You can do this.’

‘This show will go bad, just as the others. Deer or not, do you really think it will be any different this time?’

Her brow creased. “It shall! The Great and Powerful Trixie never disappoints! Not when everypony is counting on her!”

‘And you think it will work?’

“Yes! Trixie is confident it will.”

‘...We shall see. Won’t we?’

She growled at the nagging voice in her head. There were times she wished should could take that nervous, little part part of herself that doubted everything and give it a swift kick! Now was not the time for self loathing, she told herself. In fact, she couldn’t think of a better situation where her talents weren’t needed! This was Trixie’s time to shine!

Biting at her lip, she peeked past the curtain once more to find the crowd had gone silent. All eyes had turned from her makeshift stage to the Elder as he arrived. The proud buck kept his head held high and Trixie could see the respect he garnered from his fellow deer—their looks weren’t unlike the expressions she had seen Princess Celestia received from her subjects.

The Elder climbed the stage, the clopping of his hooves seeming to demand attention with the silence, and turned to address the crowd.

“My fellow children of the forest and honored guests.” He spoke in the deer language, but she could see that Faith was translating for the benefit of the gathered ponies. “For the past months, we have all known hardship brought about by the Gorgon and her Harbinger.”

A few mummers and scathing glares were shot at the ponies but the Elder was quick to quiet them.

“For the ponyfolk as well as our own. The devastation affects us all the same. In the eyes of the Gorgon, there are no differences between our peoples.” He turned his gaze slowly over the crowd as they fell silent. “Because of this, our village has lost much of the good cheer it once had.” His voice dropped a bit. “It saddens my old heart to not see the smile on your faces or the spring in your steps.”

The collected deer shifted in their seats and a few glances were shared.

“And I know that there is still little reason to smile as there are many days of trials ahead of us,” the Elder continued. “However, if there is any way for us all to forget our troubles—even if only for a little while—I will seek it out to lift the spirits of Maederhallow once again.” He motioned to the curtain. “That is why we are here tonight. A pony had come to me with an idea and a promise to do just that. The aura-weaver, known as Trixie, has offered her talents to bring those smiles back to us.”

Again, the deer shifted but many now looked at the stage with curious eyes—a few gazes even having a tinge of hope.

“So now, I turn the stage to her. For all of our people, and our guests, relax and enjoy the show that even I am enthused to see with my own eyes.”

This was it. It was time. The fears and doubts rushed up within Trixie like a wave on a beach. In true entertainer form, she took in a breath and let it out slowly—shoving all other thoughts but her act into a corner of her mind.

‘It’s show time.’

Lifting her voice higher, she yelled, “Fillies and gentlecolts, bucks and does, welcome one and all to the amazing magical acts of the one and only… Great and Powerful Trrrrrrixie!”

A burst of purple smoke covered her grand entrance to the stage. Even as she stood tall for her audience, she wasn’t met with cheers or stamps of applause. Rather, she received curious or suspicious stares. She did smile a bit as Wanderer and Tormod gave her a cheer despite the odd looks they got.

“Thank you all for your warm welcome,” she said while bowing to her crowd. “Be ready to feast your eyes on fantastical magical acts renown all across Equestria!” As she straightened, a pair of deer assistants lifted baskets of fallen leaves onto her stage. “With autumn at our backs, The Great and Powerful Trixie was reminded of how much she enjoys the changing of the leaves. She remembers watching with her father as they danced in the wind whenever a gust blowed through, and for tonight, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall make them dance for everypony’s enjoyment!”

Her horn took on its mystical light and the leaves lifted from the baskets. With a toss of her head, the leaves began to swirl and twist around—dancing like they were caught in a dust devil. With another toss of her head, the leaves picked up their speed and split into two separate tornadoes.

Glancing away from her work for a second, should could see her audience watched with raised eyebrows or widened eyes—the deer more so than the ponies. No doubt the deer weren't familiar with her amazing magical prowess, she reasoned.

A sly smile spread across her face. ‘Time to show them what I can really do.’

The two mini tornados moved together and merged to form a larger cyclose of whirling leaves. The cyclone spread wider and wider—a bead of sweat running down Trixie’s face as she gritted her teeth—and the leaves engulfed her stage.

Sparing another glance, she saw her pony audience appeared fairly impressed—Tormod nodding in approval.

Grinning, she made a commanding gesture and the leaves formed a thin wall in front of her stage. Making sure her audience could still see her, she swept a hoof across the wall. In turn, the leaves spun with her hoof. Left to right and back again, the wall of leaves spun in place as if one were running a hoof over the surface of water. Finally, she walked to her impromptu wall and poked the center leaf. A small ripple moved through the wall from the poke, all the way to the edges of her wall—the leaves crinkling as they spun.

A small laugh escaped her at her crowd’s awed reaction. With a charge of her horn, the wall split in two, swirled around, and the leaves neatly deposited themselves back into their waiting baskets.

The majority of the pony audience cheered and applauded, while the deer watch her with awed gazes.

She swept her hat off her head in a grand bow. “Thank you! Thank you all for that!” Setting her cap back in place, a confident grin began to grow across her face. “And now, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall entertain you with a grand tale of heroism—”

Her ears flicked as she heard Tourmaline speak, “Sweet Celestia. She’s not going for that, is she?”

A knowing grin crossed Trixie’s face. “—that she herself has witnessed. A grand tale of three of the most reckless—but bravest—ponies she has ever known.” Her horn lit and the two fires near her stage dimmed, setting the area to a soft glow. On cue, the deer musicians took up their instruments and began to play a lively tune.

As the music began, Trixie smiled as she addressed her audience. “It began with a simple walk in the woods.”

Her horn shone brighter and a bolt of magic shot up into the air and burst into a multitude of sparks. When they cleared, the audience could see a trio of foalishly drawn ponies glowing in the night sky. One was a red earth pony, another a green pegasus, and the third was a brown unicorn; the three ran through an imaginary forest, laughing and playfully jostling with each other—though the light show focused more upon the earth pony and pegasus. The two seemed the most animated, with huge smiles on their faces as they ran together. At one point the pegasus stole the earth pony’s hat and a wild chase ensued. The pegasus keeping the hat of his reach while the unicorn laughed.

Trixie stole a glance at her friends to see Wanderer and Tourmaline sharing a look. They stared at each other for a moment before averting their gazes—shame plain to see in their expressions.

The showmare focused back on her display in the air and her eyes narrowed. Suddenly, a large timberwolf leapt in front of the three animated ponies—and the music took on an intense tone. Her crowd gasped and Trixie smiled as even the deer seemed enthralled by the show.

After a moment of shock, the three ponies fearlessly charged the wolf. It lunged to bite at them, but they dodged its attack. The earth pony bucked, the pegasus flew around its face, and the unicorn blasted at it as they worked together to force the wolf out of sight.

Finally, the pegasus lifted the earth pony into the air and they two shared a warm smile before she flipped twice and launched him. With a cocky grin on his face, the pony flipped a few times before kicking out with his hind legs. Like an arrow through water, he split the wolf from snout to tail before it ‘poofed’ out of existence.

Pony and deer alike cheered and the three animated ponies gave synchronized bows with their creator before fading away.

As the fires returned to their brightness, Trixie felt the tears form at the corners of her eyes as she crowd continued to cheer.

‘Just like it used to be. I’ve missed it so much.’

She doffed her cap again as she smiled grandly for her audience. “Thank you! Thank you all so much! The Great and Powerful Trixie is always eager to please.” She stood on her hind legs and threw her front legs out wide. “And now, the Great and Powerful Trixie is proud to present her final act for the night.”

She waited while Faith translated, smiling wide as she saw a real smile on the doe’s face since she lost Risen Hart. “Her final act is a performance favored by her greatest fans, and Trixie will perform it tonight for all of you!”

A knowing smile played across her face as the three adventurers blinked. “These fans have been Trixie’s motivation to continue doing what she loves most: performing for audiences across Equestria.” Her eyes traced to the three. “Trixie hasn’t always shown her gratitude or even knew how thankful she was until recently. For that, she thanks you for helping a lost pony find her way.”

Smiling wider, she looked back to her anxious crowd. “For them, Trixie proudly brings to you all here tonight, The Dance of the Will-o-Wisp.”

Charging her horn, the fires burned low and the deer musicians took up their instruments once more. They began playing an acoustic version of the song she played in Greensborough—the fruit of labor from working with them over the week.

“Mares, does, hold onto your special someone,” she said in a low mysterious voice. “For you do not want them lead astray… by the will-o-wisp.”

A ball of white light formed at the tip of her horn to float in front of her face, setting her silvery mane to glowing. Tilting her head, the wisp lazily swirled around her body as the music began its slow intro before speeding out to stop inches from the face of a surprised buck. Even as he flinched, the ball darted to another buck. It repeated the process until the it stopped in front of Wanderer. Trixie could see him gulp as the ball was a hair’s breath away and she felt a small grin grow across her face. The ball hung there for a moment before drifting towards Tourmaline. The pegasus’s eyes widened as it neared, the light reflecting off her necklace and setting her fur to glowing.

Trixie gave her head a slight toss and the wisp spun around the two before dashing into the sky. It hung there for a moment more before splitting itself in two—in time for the song to pick up its tempo. The two wisps—now colored red and green respectively—twirled and dashed at each other. Vering off before colliding, the two chased each other before they would spin and the process repeat itself.

Difficult as it was to concentrate on her magic, Trixie stole a peek at her crowd and smiled. The light reflected off every gaze as they were glued to the sky. The deer stood fascinated by her magic, a feat they likely hadn’t seen before. Her pony audience was mystified by the display, and her smile widened more as she saw happy smiles on her friend’s faces.

As the song neared its end, she stood on her hind legs and motioned for the wisps. The two lights zipped down, circled around Wanderer and Tourmaline once before racing back to Trixie. Spinning in place, the lights swirled around her—setting her and the stage in a mystical glow. As the song reached its climax, she held her hat aloft and the wisps darted inside. She donned the cap just as the song ended gave her audience her confident grin.

The resulting uproar of applause echoed well beyond the village. Pony and deer alike stomped their hooves and cheered for her.

Their cheers, the amazement on their faces, it was everything she dreamed of seeing again. She felt the tears run down her face—her unrestrained joy would not allow for anything else.

She wasn’t sure how she managed to find her voice to speak. “Thank you! Thank you all so very much! This means so much to Trixie.”

The Elder joined her on stage, giving her a small smile as she wiped at her face. He held his head high as the cheers quieted down so he could speak. “Brothers and sisters of our clan, we have been graced tonight by the skills of the aura-weaver. Long has it been since I have seen such joy and wonder on our people’s faces.” A wider smile tugged at his lips. “Even I find my old heart lifted with such an emotion-filled display.”

He turned to Trixie and she could see the happy glint in his eyes. “As Elder of the White Tail tribe, you have our tribe’s gratitude and respect, Trixie Lulamoon.”

As he bowed his head, Trixie saw that all of the deer followed suit. Feeling her legs go weak, she slumped to her haunches. Her gaze swept the genuflecting deer and it took every bit of self-control not to burst into happy sobs.

“Trixie also wants to thank the White Tail tribe for the chance to perform for them.” She smiled and stood back up. “Trixie thanks you all for being her audience and she hopes to perform for you all again!”

As the applause started back up, she took her bow.