Deep within the Everfree Forest, under a night dark and cloudy, the atmosphere itself is silent and still. Only the breezing wind against the loose branches make a sound, nearly snuffing out the candles set up around the tree. Crouched along her hind legs, her eyes closed, ‘The Great and Powerful’ Trixie takes a deep breath inhaling the scent from the tiny flames. The scent of the burning wax melting under the flame seems to raise her deepest desires, sighing heavily as she can feel her sensations break loose.
But the moment of peace does not last long, the snarling from within the forest interrupts whatever pleasure Trixie is building. So Trixie decides to push forward, not wanting to stick around any longer. Blowing away the candles herself, tucking them into her hat, she straps herself to the front of her wagon and carries on with her trip into the Everfree.
What draws Trixie into the dark woods, no pony knows for sure. For what reason Trixie has to be here in a place forbidden for most ponies, only Trixie can say for sure. She keeps a straight face as best as she can, trudging her way forward with no reason to turn back. As if she believes that somewhere in the Everfree, an answer to her problems is there for her to take. Because otherwise, a mare like Trixie has all and good reasons to turn back.
But sure enough, she pulls herself to a stop as the first sign of civilization is there before her eyes: A shanty little house built within a tree, decorated with the oddest décor that Trixie has seen to date. The fabled home of the only creature willing to live inside a place so scary and this is where Trixie hopes to find her. Unstrapping herself of her wagon, she approaches the door and raises her hoof…
*KNOCK! KNOCK!*
The doorway opens and the occupant of the house reveals herself to Trixie… the zebra, Zecora, a witch doctor from a land far beyond the borders of Equestria.
“Trixie, why come from so far away?” Zecora asked. “Aren’t you the pony who gloats all day?”
“Ma’am, I, ‘The Great and Powerfu…’ oh let’s cut to the end!” Trixie rolled her eyes. “Zecora, Trixie needs your help, and she needs it now!”
Zecora silently gazes deeply into Trixie’s eyes, piercing through her very soul in search for truth. After a moment or too, Zecora nods her head as if she believes what Trixie says is true. She walks back into her home, quietly gesturing Trixie with a cue to follow her inside. Without much hesitation, the unicorn follows closely behind.
“What bothers you, pony who is so blue?” Zecora asked.
“’Trixie’… if you please,” The unicorn corrected.
Trixie looks down upon the floor, pawing her hoof front and back. At first, she seems hesitant to answer Zecora’s question directly. But eventually, the unicorn finds herself having no choice but to reveal just what is bothering her.
“It’s that Twilight Sparkle, that’s what!” Trixie admitted. “Since she showed me up in Ponyville, I… I just… I can’t seem to go on!”
Trixie sits upon her haunches, her eyes starting to water up.
“I’ve lost all my meaning in life… I can’t find any reason to stick around here or anywhere else. I don’t even know where to go or what to do!”
Zecora gazes upon Trixie with great concern, analyzing Trixie’s words ever so carefully.
“My child, I will help you,” Zecora offered. “With a little something called voodoo.”
Surprise… cheerfulness… concern… a variety of emotions draw upon Trixie’s face. Just the word ‘voodoo’ itself gives the blue pony a chilly feeling. Zecora pulls out a black cauldron from the corner, mixing a variety of interesting, yet suspicious, ingredients on the shelfs. Trixie looks on as the zebra concocts this mixture of a most unusual manner. Still, if this is what it takes for Trixie to rid herself of this woeful feeling in her heart, she is willing to take a chance even for herself.
Eventually, the mixture is complete according to Zecora’s gaze of satisfaction. Trixie can smell the scent of the brew right from where she sits.
“Breathe in…” Zecora encouraged. “Breathe in…”
The unicorn follows the instructions, breathing in the scent deeply into her system. She can feel a familiar feeling within her rekindle, as her mind seems to drift back…
<>
Trixie finds herself back outside, surrounded by candles and Zecora standing before her. The candles remain lit despite the tiny drizzle of rain fallowing from the clouds hanging over their heads. The whole time, Zecora chants in her native tongue with a soft, yet soothing voice. What the zebra is chanting about, Trixie cannot make any of it out. The words fill her ears of empty thoughts, one of which involving that night with the Ursa Minor. The thoughts begin to speak to her, as Trixie slowly discovers the meaning of it all.
“You did not know it was there…” They spoke. “You were not prepared. Had you known an Ursa was coming, you could have easily defeated it.”
“But how?” Trixie asked mentally.
Unfortunately for her, neither of these thoughts prove clear to her. Something else races deep within her mind. Standing before her are her inner demons, from many dreams before. Her mind is torn between her inner fears and her self-confidence. Torn to shreds by self-doubt in her own inadequacy. And yet as her mind drifts back and forth, she can hear a voice in the background.
Listening closely, Trixie can hear Zecora. Her mind repeating her words: Breathe in… breathe in…
Trixie takes a deep breath, and Zecora’s voice speaks to her once more…
“Your old self is not so far away,” Zecora chanted. “You will be ‘Great and Powerful’ within the next day.”
A mental image of Zecora herself draws closer to the hazy unicorn. Only this image has a snake around Zecora’s neck, the front half of which she holds with one hoof. Clutching the slithery creature to Trixie’s foreleg, before the unicorn can react… it bites its fangs deep within her veins.
“AAAHHH!!!” Trixie yelled out in pain.
But soon, she begins to fall into a deeper slumber. Never in her wildest dreams did ‘The Great and Powerful’ Trixie ever imagine feeling such shame again. The mare can only hope she never has to remember the reason for coming here in the first place. And as her thoughts fade into the darkest depths of her mind, so too does her consciousness fade…
<>
The next day…
The smell of freshly brewed tea stirs Trixie awake. The mare’s eyelids slowly lift up and down, her senses returning her to reality. And the first thing Trixie sees is a cup of hot tea on the counter before her, the mare finds herself lying on her side along a couch.
“You are awake, you had much sleep time to take.”
Trixie blinks, as she looks around. And in a matter of seconds, Trixie finds Zecora sitting on a chair sipping her own cup of tea.
“What is The Great and Powerful Trixie doing in such a… dreadful place?”
Zecora rolls her eyes in annoyance but accepts the fact Trixie is awake all the same.
“I found you passed out and lost,” Zecora answered. “I could not leave you at that cost.”
Trixie looks down with such confusion, trying to piece together what’s happened to her. She picks herself off the couch, making her start toward the door. Trixie hisses painfully, wincing as she can feel a pain in her foreleg. She looks down and discovers that a portion of that one leg is bruised.
“Trixie doesn’t know what you are saying or what you did to me,” She began. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Trixie will take her leave… now!”
And just like that, Trixie makes her exit from the house in the tree, straps herself back to her wagon, and takes off through the Everfree Forest. But barely a few steps in, fighting against the pain in her leg… she stops. As if something is still tormenting her and not just the sore feeling every time she walks. And not even just the reason for going to Trixie anyway.
One single word haunts her mind… every time she limps away, the pain burning greatly in her foreleg, that same word repeats in her head and the zebra’s voice echoes within her.
“Voodoo… voodoo… voodoo… voodoo…”
For some reason, Trixie can’t figure out why the word itself is so haunting for her. Try as she might, for whatever reason Trixie can’t ignore the word either. She tells herself she needs to make her way back home, as far away from the Everfree Forest… but there’s just one question that haunts her: Where is home?
Trixie can find no reason for Ponyville to want to take her back, not after suffering such humiliation against an Ursa… a ‘minor’, not a ‘major’. And no matter where else she goes, word eventually gets out, and she’ll face public humiliation in even the tiniest town on the continent. That night, any confidence Trixie has that her magic makes her live to the very name she claims herself to be… it all but vanished completely. And Trixie finds herself turning back to the opposite direction, a look of concern upon her face.
<>
Back inside her hut, Zecora is clearing away the table of all the tea supplies. Taking this time to straighten out her home after that brief visit from that sad blue unicorn.
*KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!*
A set of knocks on her front door draws Zecora’s attention. Putting the tea kettle back on the counter, Zecora marches her way toward the door and opens it with a single hoof. And there, before her very eyes, Trixie stands before her.
“Please Zecora… teach Trixie your mysterious ways.”