Transcend

by Anonymous Pegasus


Karma

Evergreen visited many different stores—from the alchemists’ row, to the florist, then to the decorator and even the hospital—selling them all different herbs or flowers. It seemed as though the different things he collected were needed by a wide range of ponies, and none of those shopkeepers tried to stiff him in the way that the first alchemist had done.

“So why did you accept ten bits for the niteshade when it’s worth twenty?” Chrysalis queried Evergreen as they headed for the hospital.

“Well, yer realise that niteshade is dangerous, yeah?” Evergreen asked, raising a brow at Chrysalis. “That shopkeeper is the only pony for miles around who knows how ter properly prepare niteshade for alchemy purposes. He buys it off everypony hereabouts and then prepares it, and sells it ter the other alchemists at a profit.”

“That... Seems very dodgy,” Chrysalis stated flatly.

“Ahhh... Well, he’s the only one can prepare it. Most other ponies end up poisoning themselves when they attempt it. So he at least has the right,” Evergreen said with a slight shake of his head. “Yer quite the negotiator if yer convinced him to give yer the extra for the niteshade that he stiffed me out of.”

Chrysalis frowned, her eyes narrowing on the stallion for a moment. “You mean to tell me that you knew all along that he wasn’t giving you the correct price.”

“Ah knew,” Evergreen admitted.

“Then why didn’t you stop him?!” Chrysalis demanded, scowling. “Besotted colt.”

“There’s nah need for insults,” Evergreen rebuked, his tone turning exasperated. “Th’ shopkeeper’s the only one who buys niteshade off me. So he kinda can set the price, and ah don’t have time to argue, or we’ll be trekking back to th’ cottage in the dark.”

“And the shopkeeper knew that you were in a hurry, and was using it to his advantage?” Chrysalis asked, raising a brow.

“Ah think so,” Evergreen said with a sad smile. “There’s not a whole lot ah could do about it though, ten bits fer the niteshade is better than no bits at all.”

“I...suppose that’s correct. But if he does that again, let me know. I’ll convince him otherwise,” Chrysalis said, her tone completely innocent. There was nothing to suggest that she was speaking of anything in any way...evil, but Evergreen still gave her a long look.

“Ah get th’ feelin’ that yer a lot less innocent than yer act,” Evergreen stated.

“And Ah get th’ feelin’ that yer a lot smarter than yer act, too,” Chrysalis teased, grinning at him a moment. “Of course, if you were as dumb as you acted, you would have trouble walking and talking at the same time.”

“And if yer were as innocent as yer seemed then... I... Completely can’t think of something ter come back with,” Evergreen admitted with a shake of his head.

“I retract my previous statement about you seeming smarter than you act,” Chrysalis said blankly.

Evergreen snorted at Chrysalis, giving a soft chortle. “Ah don’t pretend ter be a smart pony. Ah’m happy being a dumb woodspony.”

Evergreen pushed open the door to the hospital and held it open for Chrysalis to step through.

“And you’re so good at it, too,” Chrysalis teased, giving Evergreen a sarcastic curtsey as she stepped through the door, blinking and wrinkling her nose. She had always hated hospitals with their shiny, whitewashed walls, and the sharp tang of antiseptic constantly so strong in the air.

The stallion pushed past Chrysalis and up to the counter. He dug around in his sack for a moment, coming up with several jars filled with herbs and plants. Chrysalis recognized them as plants they had travelled quite a ways off the path for. Evergreen set the jars down, lifted a hoof in a wave at the nurse behind the counter, and then turned around to leave. Blinking uncertainly, chrysalis turned and followed the stallion back out onto the road.

“You’re just... Giving them to the hospital?” Chrysalis asked, her tone bewildered.

“Yup,” Evergreen replied with a nod.

“But... We went so far to get those,” Chrysalis complained, her ears pinning back. “Why didn’t you sell them?”

“Cause yer never know when yer’ll need the help,” Evergreen said with another nod, before saying thoughtfully, “Some call it karma, yer know?”

“Karma?” Chrysalis echoed, blinking slowly.

“Yeah. Karma. Means that yer do good things and good things’ll happen to yer...and if yer do bad things, yer’ll get yer comeuppance pretty hard,” Evergreen explained.

“That’s a...rather simplistic superstition that is ultimately grounded in the notion that there’s a universal scale and balance to it all,” Chrysalis said with a shake of her head. “I hope you don’t believe that nonsense.”

“Ah believe it, fer sure,” Evergreen said with a nod, his tone confident. “Ah know that karma will help me down the road somewhere.”

“But...it’s such a stupid thing to believe!” Chrysalis whined, shaking her head at him in exasperation. “It makes no sense!”

“Oh, but it makes perfect sense,” Eergreen said with a smile at her, his expression rather smug.

“...You really are as stupid as you act.” Chrysalis groaned.

“Yer not lookin’ at it from a philosophical point er view,” Evergreen countered.

“How does philosophy make a stupid idea any more applicable?” Chrysalis asked, scowling slightly.

“Well, look at this way, yeah, say that ah tripped over that there rock over yonder.” Evergreen pointed with a hoof towards a rock on the side of the street.

“That would be exceptional stupid and clumsy of you,” Chrysalis interjected, looking thoughtful a moment before she stated, “I can see it happening. Continue.”

Evergreen ignored the insult, rolling his eyes. “Well, what if Ah broke my hoof? I’d end up in the hospital, yeah?”

“Most likely...” Chrysalis answered, trailing off uncertaintly.

“And when ah got fixed up, the nurses gave me pain medicine and didn’t charge me a bit for it because ah gave them all that stuff for free every time I’m in town,” Evergreen finished with a sly smile. “Ah would call that karma.”

“But it’s not karma,” Chrysalis snorte. “That’s exploiting the building of an emotional bond for personal gain.”

“How do yer get that idea?” Evergreen asked, staring at Chrysalis in bewilderment.

“You give those things to that nurse as gifts, yes?”

“Ah guess you could call it that.”

“And these gifts cost you nothing except a walk off the regular path?”

“Yer were there to help me gather ‘em.”

“And you would receive proper, actual medicine in return for these free gifts, were you to injure yourself?” Chrysalis pressured.

Evergreen shifted uncomfortably. “...Ah guess that would be true in this example.”

“Then you are preying on the nurses’ emotional bond with you to further your own personal well-being for no charge, using gifts that you gather at no cost. It’s simple enterprise. You’re a shrewd businessman, Sir Evergreen.” Chrysalis teased with a grin.

The stallion paused at that, thinking about what she said, his brow furrowing. “But that... I...”

Chrysalis grinned at Evergreen for a moment, triumphant. “You know I’m right.”

Evergreen stared at Chrysalis over his shoulder for a moment longer before reversing direction suddenly, heading back towards the hospital. 

“Stay here.” Evergreen stated, breaking out into a gallop.

Chrysalis blinked after Evergreen for a moment, before sitting on her haunches. Mystified, she watched him galloping towards the hospital as though he’d forgotten something. She amused herself as she waited, by searching for a new couple to target. There were several worthy targets; first of which was a businesspony in a suit who was in love with a young pegasus mare.

But Chrysalis didn’t particularly like the look of the earth pony businessman. Just because she fed on love didn’t mean she had to lower her standards. Plus, his lover was a pegasus. Chrysalis didn’t want to be a pegasus or an earth pony. Life without magic was dull and slow; having to use hooves for everything.

A couple passed, two females, a greenish-blue one, and a yellow pony with two-tone pink and blue mane. One of them was a unicorn, she appeared to be a musician. Chrysalis didn’t want anything to with that. It was an intriguing prospect, though. It had been a long time since she’d swam in the love of a same-sex couple. They were always quite delicious. true love, hidden, but just as strong as that of a normal couple. Usually even stronger, seeing as they had to make it work while hiding it from the world.

But the music part was a deal breaker. Chrysalis couldn’t play any instrument, let alone a harp.

Various other couples passed, and Chrysalis found herself rejecting each for various reasons. That male was too big. That female was just too slim for her to shapechange into comfortably. That female’s mane was horrible. Green of all things, Green!

And then Evergreen was back, panting faintly.

“What was all that about?” Chrysalis asked, staring at him.

“Ah was giving the nurse ten bits,” Evergreen panted, slowing his pace, beginning to walk towards the store again.

Chrysalis blinked slowly as she fell into step beside him, “But...why?”

“Because ah what you said,” Evergreen admitted, huffing as he turned to face her. “Ah am not ruining my karma by taking stuff from others for my own personal gain.”

“But you just finished explaining to me that karma is merely a construct that ponies use to explain the intrinsic bond that comes about from emotional attachments causing unexpected gains from those vectors,” Chrysalis stated calmly.

Evergreen stared at her. “...Ah do not believe ah used that many words.”

Chrysalis rolled her eyes, rubbing a hoof against his mane for a moment in a soothing fashion, cooing; “Just think it all through, Sir Evergreen. You’ll figure it out.”

Chrysalis couldn’t be certain, but she thought she detected a faint blush on the stallion’s cheeks.

“Ah feel kinda stupid,” Evergreen admitted after a few moments.

“It suits you,” Chrysalis said in her most tender tone, grinning at Evergreen. “So where are we going?”

“Ah need ter stop at the general store and get some food, and another blanket; unless yer wanna share with me again?” Evergreen asked with an arched brow, more of a threat than a question.

“I think a second blanket is a wondrous idea,” Chrysalis stated flatly.

Evergreen grinned at her and then reached into his sack for a moment, tugging out his pouch of coins. Opening it up, he tipped a few bits into his hoof, holding them out for her.

She blinked at him. “What?”

Evergreen shook his hoof. “Yer helped me with the work today. So it’s only right that ah give yer some of the proceeds.”

Chrysalis stared at Evergreen a moment before taking the bits with a nod, smiling. “Your reasoning is sound.”

Evergreen grinned and tousled Chrysalis’ mane slightly. “Just don’t spend it all in one place. Ah’ll meet you back here in a half hour.”

Chrysalis nodded in response, peeking down at the bits in her hoof. It wasn’t a whole lot at all, but enough to get one or two things. Instead of heading for the main store, she headed further down the road to a store they had passed previously. Slipping inside she chose one or two items that she thought she would like, paying for them, and then stepping back outside.

It was a few moments later that a shadow fell across Chrysalis, and she squinted up into the sunlight, her eyes slowly widening.

A familiar shape was gliding in a circle around Ponyville with a long, streaming mane and tail, flanked by precision-flying forms in shining armour.

Princess Celestia.