Last’s night experience is something I’ll never experience again. And I’m a little sad about that. But at the same time, if I did it again, it may not live up to the expectations I’ve given myself. Hmm? What happened? Sure, I’ll tell you. Though it may take a while.
A few days ago, I invited Zecora over for some tea. She had hundreds of wonderful tea leaves that could only be grown in the Everfree Forest, and I wanted to learn about them. When she asked which blend she was supposed to bring, I told her to surprise me, and to bring something new. After that, she gave me a warning, which was strange in it of itself. She said that this special herb was used for other uses other than tea, this particular herb was used for sacred practices as well. I was never given details on what those practices were, but she told me that they give a pony (or in her culture’s case zebra) insight. This excited me; I could have insight on a number of topics if what she was saying was correct. I accepted her warning and asked her to bring this herb. Last night at around sundown she came to the library. Sundown? Yes I’m sure I mean sundown and not midday. I’ll admit, it was an odd time to meet. Normally ponies meet for tea during midday. When she wanted to meet at sundown, I assumed that it was part of zebra culture. Like she promised, she brought something for tea, but it wasn’t tea leaves. She brought two cacti.
This was obviously strange. I asked her why she brought cacti instead of tea leaves. She responded by asking me if I wanted something new. Of course I wanted something new, so she said that this would be new to me. Zecora called the cactus peyote. She took the crowns of the cacti and cut them into small disc shaped buttons. Those buttons were put into a kettle and boiling water was poured into it. While we waited for the tea to steep, she asked for a phonograph. I pointed her to the one in the library. She set put a record on it and happy music began to play from it. This… well what can I say? This was very very confusing. When I asked why, she answered with:
“Twilight Sparkle, my dear friend. If things go wrong, we both could meet our untimely end. So to prevent fear from growing in us, we must have something happy to calm distress.” That scared me a little. What if this plant was poisonous? What if it could kill us if we had too much? Zecora calmed my fears though by saying that so long as we were in a safe environment, nothing would happen. She poured both myself and her a cup of the tea. When I tasted it, it was bitter. Very bitter. After finishing my cup (and two more), I felt nauseous. My paranoia acted up and told me that I was dying. Again, Zecora calmed me down, and I felt better. After a few moments… it happened.
“It” is the best way I can describe it. I don’t know what exactly was happening. All I knew was that something happened. I could see sound and I could hear the very heartbeat of the planet we stand on. It was incredible. While that by itself would be amazing, something even more incredible happened. I saw the Truth. Not truth, Truth with a capital “T”. It was beautiful. I’ll admit, tears came from my eyes when I saw it. It was a brief glimpse, but I’ll never forget it.
*
Last night? Last night was nothing new or insane, just something that I consider mundane. You’d like that special tea? Well my friend, follow me.