A Bitter Brew for the Holidays [Visual]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[Oh look, it's Zecora, whose hut has taken on a distinctly Nightmare Before Christmas aesthetic thanks to a few Hearth's Warming decorations being mixed in with her masks, cauldrons, and supplies. But Zecora herself looks sinister and ominous in the green light of a bubbling brew, and deeply serious indeed.]

I believe the time has come
To give you all a message from
A sinsiter place to us:
The depths of Tartarus.

For those of you who heard the story
That Celestia in all her glory
Told to us of the Pale Pony,
This may clear up uncertainty.

The Pale Pony -- the true one,
Not she who captured us for fun,
But the true figure of which legends speak
Is somepony we ought to seek.

For her existence may indeed be fact.
This new knowledge that we have lacked
May explain many mysteries
Littered throughout our histories.

She may be the one who hid the Tree
Which bore the Elements of Harmony.
So she may not be quite on our side
But against one foe, we may be allied.

Keep this in mind and seek more clues.
This fight is one we must not lose.

Comments

[twotailedgenius]

[This looks serious indeed.]

The true Pale Pony? You mean there's two? [Shouldn't be surprising, seeing as there's doubles running around here; even legendary figures aren't excluded from that theory] And the Elements of Harmony? [Guess who actually doesn't really know about that one yet. A trip to the library might be in order.]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

If an earth pony claimed to have a horn
Would you count her as a unicorn?

[That misnomer is the first thing that needs to be corrected.]

[vis]

[stormbroken]

I figured as much myself about a month or two ago. There's legends of the Pale Pony that don't mesh up with the one named Cálice. The only way that would make sense is if Cálice is using the legends to personify herself.

She's an impostor, in other words.

Problem is, you're looking at a literal goddess of death. Not someone easy to get chummy with, yeah?

[vis]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

I thought from the start
That title had no heart.
More important to me
Is that the true Pale Pony
Is real and exists.
Not the strangest of twists
But hearing she can give aid
Should make our fear of her fade.

[visual]

[foolish_seal]

Isn't the real Pale Pony essentially Equestria's goddess of death?

[Hoo boy. This'll be something.]

[visual]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

I cannot say no.
It is exactly so
If Celestia's tale
In truth does not fail.

[visual]

[ponymeisters]

Never have I heard the tale
Of a tree that might be our grail.
Who has given you these facts?
Let us get down to brass tacks.

[Have a small toy car speaking at you in your own voice, Zecora. Echo is very curious about these developments.]

[visual]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

The Tree of Harmony once held
The elements in a magic meld.
The Pale Pony sought to keep
It from Cálice's voidlike sleep.

So say the pair from Tartarus
Though that name will bring quite a fuss.

[Visual]

[callmeyork]

... so... not so much Jack the Ripper as Jack the Ripoff. Hm.

You're suggesting an "enemy of my enemy" situation then, Zecora?

[Visual]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

The Pale Pony has already acted.
From that we are all impacted.
She will keep acting on her own
If her faith in us has never grown.

[discorderly]

[That's an interesting ruffed collar Discord is wearing. He clears his throat, and says:]

This Pale Pony of myth I've not seen
Nor tree harmonious bearing jeweled fruit
Though I have known this land ere it was green
And sang alone here when all else was mute

And I have seen the planets in their youth
And watched stars blaze anew, only to fade
A liar I am, yes, but this is truth:
That I dwelt here before these lands were made

I have looked on as ponies fell and died
Yet no god ever happened near my sight
Perhaps she waited 'til I left their side
But were she Death itself, I'd sense her might

In short, I think these legends falsely sown
For why should gods not recognize their own?

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

An alternate rhyme scheme?
I did not ever dream
That you'd turn your dictation
To zebra flirtation!

[Really, alternate rhyme schemes probably aren't zebra courtship rituals, but that doesn't seem to stop Zecora's sly smile. What does is her desire to give an answer.]

For countless years, Discord
You failed to record
A far greater power
You recognize now, in this hour.
You have a true flaw
(Besides abohorring natural law):
So great is your might
And expansive your sight
That you just cannot conceive
And so do not believe
In things past your scope.
But you can learn, I hope.

So I charge you with this task:
Answer a question I ask.
If not taken by the Pale Pony
Where, now, is the Tree of Harmony?

[sailorlaughter]

Oh, so we need to make friends with the REAL Pale Pony first? Great! I'll round up other me, and maybe we can take our Friendship Float down to Tartarus!

She does live down there, right?

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[Zecora shakes her head, grimly.]

The Pale Pony may not even be alive
Or dead, either. We might strive
In vain to understand
A pony so grand.
When your life becomes, at last, death
You would see her after your last breath.

[Visual, live from Stalliongrad!]

[ponycure_dream]

Then... Wouldn't it be easier to try to find the tree than it would her?

[visual]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

If you were the Pale Pony
Where would you hide the tree?

[visual]

[strengthinkindness]

Th...Th-The true Pale Pony...? Th-There's...a different one...?

[A real one?]

[visual]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

There was ever only one.
Cálice took the name, perhaps for fun
Perhaps for reasons we do not know.
But the true one exists, as these stories show.

[Visual]

[caneattheseapples]

Just keep moving and seeking clues out, huh? Hey, can't be any harder than it has been so far.

So okay what's this tree you're talking about? I don't remember the Elements being grown, but hey, I never saw the damn things in my own world anyway.

[Visual]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

The Elements are a powerful force
But even they must have a source.

[Sure, she's used this line before, but it's a good one!]

[Visual]

[freeasthewind]

[Oookay, a little hard to understand with all the rhyming. She wants to ask why this Zebra talks in rhymes, but she figures that would be rude. There are more important things to ask.]

So, the "Pale Pony" and this "Calice" I've heard about aren't one and the same?

[Visual]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

You understand. Calice is not she
Who rules over death, the Pale Pony.

[Those rhymes are just gonna keep coming.]

[visual]

[trustme]

Is the Pale Pony dwelling there
In the land of death and fear?

[visual]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[That one hurts more than a little, but Zecora soldiers on.]

The Pale Pony is not in Tartarus.
If so we could find her with little fuss.

[visual]

[needsteaplz]

Well I don't suppose there's a method to contacting the actual Pale Pony without dying, is there? That's of course we're assuming she's willing to talk with us.

[visual]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

Even if we die, it would not no work.
We are prevented by that little quirk
That Calice displays, control over death.
We do not leave this world with our last breath.

[bluesuit_hoofy]

Hang on, Tree? Is that where Twilight and the others got the elements?

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

The current bearers never saw the tree.
They directly obtained the Elements of Harmony.

visual

[appletastic]

[Well, color her shocked. Huh.]

So the Tree of Harmony DOES exist in this world. And everypony told me I was talking nonsense!

I remember exactly where it was and what was there, if it helps at all. Dunno if it'll be the same here, but maybe there's some kind of remnant?

[visual]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

That might be worth the look
In is abandoned look.
Will you take a group
And lead that selfsame troupe
To find where it should be
And what remains of the Tree?