Tide and Effect

When Trixie awoke, she found herself in Zecora's bed, with the zebras legs wrapped all the way around her. Her eyes widened with realization, though she dared not move, her companion fast asleep and snoring loudly. She took the time to briefly recount the events of the evening. After smoking Zecora's herbal remedy, she remembers becoming very hungry and raiding the zebras kitchen for food, including several different sandwiches she made herself. After eating, she began to crave physical intimacy, lying and saying she was cold and wanted body heat. She was so high that she wasn't sure the events afterwards had been real or a dream, but nonetheless, they made her blush scarlet. The warm and dark stains on the bed sheets next to her suggested at least some part of it had been real.
As Zecora sighed sleepily and pulled her companion closer, Trixie felt that same warm and needy feeling overtake her. She crossed her legs in embarrassment and quickly rolled out of bed to escape, waking the zebra.

"A good morning to you, Ms. Lulamoon." Zecora yawned groggily, with a tone that reminded Trixie just how intimately she had gotten to know her the night before.

"Z-Zecora I uh, I'm sorry I want to apol-" Trixie stuttered, filled with embarrassment.

"No need. Last night was a pleasure, a treasure I might keep in my memory." Zecora said calmly. Trixie also noted that the zebras voice had an added effect of turning her on now, much to her embarrassment.

"Well just uh, I know you were expecting a uh- mare but uh. I don't remember, did we use-" Trixie stammered, quite un-used to being so caught off guard.

"Our safety is secure, I assure you, the herbal remedy ensures it. And are you not a mare? I was not aware." Zecora said, only slightly bemused at the question of her companions' gender.

"Well I mean I am but.. obviously I have a… uh sorry just.. it's a long story." Trixie said.

"A taste of my homeland! How grand! There are many that way where I come from. You're not the only one I have met, I doubt you're not a mare, aer you sound like one in bed." Zecora said with a sparkle in her eyes, reminiscing about her homeland. Trixie was absolutely speechless with embarrassment and surprise. Most of her hookups thus far had berated her or hurt her for tricking them. When they did go well it was still as though she was worth as much to them as the condoms. Single-use and annoying, Just another item on the list to check off, not a pony. Zecora's kindness and generosity utterly dumbfounded her. The zebra smiled as she began to gently collect the sheets off the bed to be washed.

"Thank you, Zecora. For everything," Trixie said. Zecora smiled warmly and nodded, before pointing outdoors to Trixie's wagon.

"The leather and wood that you smashed, while you slept it was my pleasure to reattach it." Zecora said. Trixie squinted to see that the leather harness and wooden support had been fixed up on the broken side of the wagon. She opened her mouth to thank Zecora again but the zebra gave her a look that held her tongue in place. Trixie simply nodded respectfully and sat in her living room while Zecora went outside to wash the sheets in the little tub they had spent time in the night before. The magician watched her through the window as she worked diligently. There was a tiredness behind her eyes, one caused from years of struggle. Though the zebra was young, the lines below her eyes suggested twice her lifespan of stress. Trixie's cheeks grew redder as she felt herself staring longingly at her companion. That same needy feeling threatened her hips to move. She forced herself to look away, looking down at the table she sat at. The coloration of the wood didn't match the trees of the forest. As she ran her hoof down the woodgrain, an unfamiliar smell came up on her, one entirely alien to her senses. Either the smell of some exotic spice, or of the wood itself. Though the tree in which zecora's home was carved felt as old as the zebra, the table felt older. Ancient, even. And here it was, sporting a modern tea set.

“Encounter much Danger? Aside from your fight with that flower?” Zecora said.
Trixie jumped in her seat, not expecting her to have returned so soon. She walked in and closed the door behind her, sitting opposite the pony as she began to pour herself a cup of tea.

“Not at all! It was surprisingly nice on the way down here!” Trixie said, neglecting to mention how absolutely terrified she had been.

“Did you find my ‘beware of bear` sign along the road you rode upon?” Zecora questioned. When Trixie gave her a blank look, she explained.

“There is a cave deep in the earth where the Ursa Major lives, it sleeps during the day, but at night it hunts in the wild, looking for the brave and reckless, to satiate its appetite.” she described. Trixie sat, imagining a very big and scary looking bear, as she shivered in her seat.

“It is good you were not unfortunate enough to meet such a creature.” Zecora said wisely.

“Have you ever seen one?” Trixie asked.

“Only from afar. Be assured, they are as real as they seem, and worse.” She said.

Trixie made a mental note of the Ursa Major. Big scary creatures like that tend to impress large crowds. Especially if she could somehow make herself seem more powerful. She smiled to herself. The Great and Powerful Trixie surely has the magical ability to vanquish such a creature.

“I'm sure it would be no match for my raw magical ability. Though. I'd rather not test.” Trixie said, projecting in her stage presence voice.

“If you challenged it to an eating contest, I'm sure you'd be the best.” Zecora said, chuckling to herself as she gestured over to her decimated pantry. Trixie looked on at the various empty bottles of ingredients she had chugged, embarrassedly.

“Another trip into town is in order, though I hope the ponyfolk will open their doors this time around.” Zecora said tiredly.

“They don't open their doors?” Trixie asked, confused. “...why not?”

“Ponyville has rumored I'm a villain of some sort. An enchantress that does evil dances.. mm something about trances, and so on, I'm afraid they say.” She said defeatedly.

“What the fuck? That's fucked up!” Trixie said. “... You're just like a normal, nice pony. Why would they do that?”

“I suspect the effect is because a pony I am not. I am a zebra and that causes them some distress as I am different from them.” she said, clearly exasperated. Trixie could head from her tone of voice that this is something she's been wanting to get out for a while.

“Hey. I know what it's like to be.. different. Maybe not like you but I still get the feeling. Ponies are fucking mean and what I've learned is you can't depend on any of them. I'm sorry that they don't sell anything to you.” Trixie said.

Zecora began to tear up, hearing somepony else understand her position and validate how she felt was a new experience. She was firm and spoke through angry tears.

“Everywhere I have been, they ask for my help, eat my food, but care not for my health or my mood. I provide and I give but then they hide from me and where I live, and they make fun of my skin and my hair, I normally wouldn't care but evidently it's not fair!” The zebra cried, as she slammed a hoof on the table.

“It is sometimes so small that the disparity feels like nothing at all.” She muttered.

“But small things add up over time. Hey, if you ever need to get away from them, I have a place you can stay if only for a little bit.” Trixie said wisely. She then caught herself, she was beginning to rhyme like her companion.

Trixie realized that there was a natural rhythm of life that she was simply not in tune with, spending time with Zecora revealed parts of it to her.

“Thank you my dear but your listening ear has done more than enough to help me feel well.” The zebra smiled, wiping her tears from her face as she looked upon the magician with pride and adoration. Trixie blushed. The way she said “my dear” had made her heart flutter in her chest.

"It's been nice, but now it's time for you to go. Later I might take a trip and visit your magic show." Zecora said, ushering the magician out of her home. Trixie saw something change in her eyes, a zebra so kind who was also used to being taken advantage of for her hospitality. She valued kindness and respect of others, but also her own privacy. Zecora was a zebra so often preoccupied with the concerns and aspirations of others, that only on her own could she truly strive to attain her own goals. Besides, Trixie felt bad about having overstayed her welcome and wanted to get back to the familiar cramped interior of her wagon.

"Zecora, you are the kindest pony I've ever met. If I don't see ya later, I'll be sure to write!" Trixie said, feeling warm and fuzzy with wholesome feelings as she jotted down the zebra's address to remember for later.

"May the ponies you find on your journey be even kinder than me!" Zecora called out after her as Trixie began to pull her wagon out of the forest and into the wide open hills that overlooked Ponyville.

With the sun behind her, Trixie looked out upon the wide-open sky dotted with fluffy clouds. in the distance, Canterlot sitting atop the mountain overlooking Ponyville. The dirt path turned back into brick as she walked down it, winding around the grassy hills and towards the town center. The wind made waves in the tall grass as it whisked past Trixie's ears, it and gravity pushing her down the hill and towards Ponyville. Pride and excitement filled the magician as she smiled to herself. A brand new start in a brand new town. Her enthusiasm made its way into her hooves and soon she was prancing down the hill with tremendous speed.

When Trixie arrived in the town square with her wagon, she parked it along one of its sides while she began to set up the stage. She looked around at the ponies casually going about their business running errands as they traveled across the square. The glances and stares weren't of disgust or boredom, but curiosity. Trixie assumed busking of her particular nature wasn't altogether common. She smiled devilishly. No competition, and the perfect kind of audience, things were going her way already. Two school-age colts approached her on their way through the square.

"Well hey there new pony!" The taller one said.

"I haven't seen you in Ponyville before. What's all this about?" Piped up the shorter one. Trixie held her hat down over her face before pushing it upwards dramatically.

"I… am the GREAT, and POWERFUL TRRRIXIE!" She belted as she conjured small magical fireworks around her head. "The most magical unicorn in ALL of EQUESTRIA! My show starts in about an hour. Tell all your friends, I'm sure they wouldn't want to miss it! The show is free of charge but donations are appreciated."

The school-age colts looked at each other in astonishment, clearly awestruck at Trixie's dramatic flare. They then ran off to go tell their friends about it. The magician smiled.

"Boy, if Ponyvillagers are impressed that easily, making it big here will be a cinch." She said once they were out of earshot, staring at her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her mane.

Trixie levitated boxes of magic props out of her wagon and onto the stage, sifting through them as she made a mental note of how the performance would go. She had no fog machine, no lighting and no sound, so much of the majesty would rely on Trixie's overall performance and flare. As she noticed that ponies were beginning to sit down outside near the stage, she quickly closed the curtain behind her. It was bad luck to see the performer before the performance started.
30 minutes went by, the magician hastily doing her hair and makeup before there was a knock on her wagon door. She opened it to see the two young colts from before looking up at her, out of breath.

"Trixie! we told all our friends about it.." the tall one said.

"And we just wanted to say we're really excited to see you perform!" Said the shorter one.

Trixie laughed nervously, trying to think of a way to accommodate the two colts that didn't involve money.

"Well thank you very much uh… you two. Why don't you boys grab yourselves front row seats in the audience, huh? The show's about to start." Trixie said, before closing the wagon door in their faces.

"Hope the show goes well!" The colts yelled through the door before running out to the audience. Trixie sighed as she peered out her window to the turnout. It was packed, she guessed most ponies in Ponyville had come out to see her perform.

"You're supposed to say break a leg." Trixie mumbled to herself as she briefly recounted her lines and ensured that everything was set-up properly behind the curtain, including all the fireworks, the stage trapdoors and magic props. "...alright Trixie. Knock em dead."