Mind and Matter

by Sixes_And_Sevens

Something to Keep in Mind

The midsummer sun beat down mercilessly as Applejack and Mentiad as they made their way to Sweet Apple Acres. When they had left Fluttershy’s cottage, Mentiad had been asking endless questions about what kind of apples Applejack grew (lots), what her favorite apple was (honeycrisp), what sort of fertilizers they used (mainly hog manure), and plenty of other fruit-related questions besides.

Applejack had borne all that with equanimity. It wasn’t often she encountered a pony (at least, one outside of her own family) who was actually eager to hear all her opinions on apples, and was capable of replying with their own. He felt that applesauce was improved greatly through the addition of flavored gelatin, which Applejack was simultaneously disgusted and intrigued by. They both agreed that red delicious apples were disgusting and a terrible misnomer. He was very interested in Applejack’s account of her family history.

She liked talking to Mentiad. Even if she had only just met him, he was earnest, frank, and an excellent listener. However, about halfway up the path to the house, it struck her that he had become much more of a listener in this conversation. She glanced back and frowned. The alicorn was all but panting, sweat matting his brow. “Y’all alright there, sugarcube?”

He smiled, but it was tinged with desperation. “Me? Oh, yeah. Fine.” He licked his lips with a dry tongue. “Little thirsty, that’s all.”

She gave him the once-over. His hooves were shaking, and his coat was dark with sweat. She didn’t need to have mysterious honesty powers to know he was lying. But if he wanted to truck on regardless, far be it from her to stop him. “Iffin y’all say so,” she said, turning around and trotting onwards. She glanced back every few minutes, and Mentiad just kept drooping more and more. Surely the heat wasn’t that bad?

Finally, she looked back to see him leaned up against a tree, tongue lolling as he gasped for air. She trotted back quickly and helped him sit down. “Sorry,” he muttered. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright, sugarcube,” Applejack assured him. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t get along well with the outdoors,” he said, looking quite miserable. “I’m not good at coping with the heat, I don’t actually get much exercise, and I’m allergic to pollen. I actually can’t breathe through my nose right now.”

Applejack blinked. “Then why in the Sam Hill did you ask to come here?”

He shrugged. “I like apples.”

Applejack smacked her forehead. “That ain’t no reason to--” She paused and huffed. “Kin you do that fancy-pants flash teleport?”

“I suppose so. I’ve never really worked out how it’s meant to work. The mechanism seems utterly unscientific.”

“Ah expect that’s prob’ly because it’s magic,” Applejack said drily.

“Magic is just another word for science we haven’t learned about yet,” he said, quite primly.

“Look, yer highness, jes’ get us up to th’ house.”

“Highness?” Mentiad frowned. “Is that in reference to the fact that I’m tall, or…”

Applejack gave him a Look. He squeaked, and they both vanished in a flash of light.

---

“Dear Celestia,” Twilight began, pacing. “You don’t think that sounds too informal, do you? Is ‘Princess Celestia’ more correct?”

Sunset shrugged. “Heck if I know.”

“Trixie believes that your language is fine.”

“In my day, we would have begun with a formal hailing,” Sombra said, setting aside his quill. “But I believe that may have gone out of style.”

“Why haven’t you managed to get this figured out already?” Sunset asked. “I mean, you’ve been a princess for, like, years.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Twilight replied irritably. “It’s a situational thing. Am I writing to the Sun Princess, to my old mentor, or my friend? Oh, leave it in, time is the most important thing right now. Anyway, I am writing to inform you of an unexpected development in Ponyville. Today, Discord threw a party to celebrate the return of their daughter, whom nopony had heard of until this point. In addition to her arrival, a new alicorn has…” she broke off, stymied.

“Appeared?” Trixie suggested. “Been summoned? Been pulled out of your ear? That was a nice touch, I thought, even if it was unintentional.”

Both Twilight and Sunset stirred slightly at the unexpected use of the first-pony pronoun, but made no fuss. “Appeared seems fine to me,” Sombra said, picking up his quill again to continue writing.

“Alright,” Twilight sighed. “Appeared. He claims to be the embodiment of ordered mind. Any advice or experiences you have with either of these individuals would be more than welcome. Yours, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Alright, Trix. Send it,” Sunset said, rolling up the scroll and tossing it to the blue mare. Trixie scrunched up her face as her horn flashed out a teleport spell.

“Woo! That’s a rush!” the unicorn said, her eyes slightly unfixed. Sombra regarded her with open concern.

“How long do you think it’ll take for her to reply?” Twilight asked, drawing nervous little circles on the floor with a hoof. “Will she know about them? What if they’re dangerous? What if—”

Sunset sighed, rolled her eyes, and exploded like a particularly temperamental batch of napalm. Twilight fell silent, Sombra shrieked slightly, and Trixie blinked herself awake once more. “Now that I’ve got your attention,” Sunset said idly, reforming out of the ashes, “perhaps I can persuade you to freakin’ cool your tits.”

“I— well, I—” Twilight stuttered. “What if they’re dangerous?”

Sunset’s expression would have fused hydrogen. “Really, Twilight? The overenthusiastic nerd and the laconic art student are a threat to Equestria? How, exactly?”

“I… I don’t know…” Twilight admitted. “On the other hand, the town has been destroyed by less likely suspects, hasn’t it?”

“Pinkie Pie clones,” Trixie nodded. “Armed bears, grumpy trees, misfired sonic screwdrivers.”

“If the pink one is descended of Discord, that especially is cause for caution,” Sombra agreed. “Though I cannot say that I feel the same way about the alicorn.”

“Reasonable points,” Sunset conceded. “But Twilight, did you ever write asking Celestia for help with any of those problems? Even most of Discord’s horseapples?” She raised her eyebrows. Twilight squirmed.

“Well… no…”

“Did you write her asking for help when I went crazy?” Sunset continued.

“No, but she was already in town when that happened. What was that about, by the way? That… Mentiad? He seemed to recognize you.”

Sunset shrugged. “Yeah, we met while I was wandering around the higher dimensions after the whole, y’know, incident. He seems pretty harmless. He wouldn't hurt a fly, but he might keep it in a jar to study its digestive enzymes and forget to feed it.”

“And for a being of chaos, Screwball seemed pretty tame,” Trixie agreed.

Twilight stepped back, her mouth flapping open and closed like a fish out of water. “Okay, fine. Even if they aren’t dangerous — IF — then surely Celestia would want to know more about new allies, wouldn’t she?”

Sunset opened her mouth to retort, but paused. “Fair point, well made. Okay, what about this? You want to know if they’re a danger or not, why don’t you go hang out with them?”

Twilight stared. “Sunset.”

“Twilight,” Sunset replied, a smile twitching over her face.

“Trixie!” shouted Trixie. The others stopped to stare at her. “What? Trixie likes the sound of her name.”

“...Sombra,” said Sombra, who didn't really like being left out.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. But I can’t watch both of them at once. I’m willing to keep an eye on Screwball if you go watch Mentiad. Sombra, you’re coming with me.”

Sunset grinned. “Alright, why not?”

“And what about Trixie? Is she merely meant to stay home like a patient dog, slobbering at the door?”

“Yeah, sort of,” Sunset replied with a smirk. “Try not to get drool on my stuff, alright? But feel free to chew up Twilight’s slippers.”

“Hardee-har-har,” Trixie said, glaring at the draconequus. Sunset winked and blew the stage magician a kiss, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Trixie turned beetroot-red as Twilight raised a brow. “Listen, your relationship with Sunset is none of my business…”

“Correct. It is not. Trixie must go… over there. To do something. Bye.”

Twilight chuckled as Trixie hurried off. “Alright. C’mon, Sombra. We’ve got a chaos goddess to find.”

“Oh. Goodie,” Sombra said, trudging after Twilight.

The library fell silent for a long moment. The only disturbance was a fly, buzzing softly across the room, wandering aimlessly. In another moment, it burst into flame as Celestia flash-teleported into the library, her coat even paler than usual. “Who’s come back?” she squawked.

---

Big Macintosh walked into the kitchen, intending to make herself a peanut butter sandwich for lunch. There was a flash of light, and suddenly Applejack was standing on the kitchen table while a grey alicorn scrambled for purchase on top of the refrigerator. Big Macintosh exited the kitchen.

Mentiad finally lost his grip on the fridge and fell to the ground. “Ow.”

Applejack sighed and hopped off the table. “Might wanna look into practicin’ yer teleports a li’l more, sugarcube.”

“Good plan,” Mentiad agreed, lying back. “Do you mind if I just sort of lie here for a little bit? Because there are actually quite a few little stars that are just sort of spinning right around my head, and I’m quite sure--”

Applejack hauled him upright. “C’mon,” she said firmly. “Ah’ll put ya on th’ couch.”

“Don’t want to be trouble,” Mentiad murmured, stumbling along behind her.

“Then ya won’t wanna collapse in th’ middle of mah kitchen,” Applejack said sternly. She sat him on the green sofa. “Ah’ll getcha somethin’ to drink. You want water? Milk? Apple juice?”

“Juice, please,” he said.

“Ah’ll be right back.”

Mentiad lay there for a moment, brow furrowed. “Howdy.”

He cracked open an eyelid. A muscular yellow mare was standing over him. “Oh, hello,” he said. “I’m Mentiad.”

She blinked. “Ah know. Ah was at Fluttershy’s house.”

“Oh.” He squinted. “Oh, yes, um…”

“Apple Bloom. Whatchoo doin’ on th’ couch?”

“Restin’,” Applejack said, returning with a glass of juice. “Apparently, he ain’t quite used to th’ great outdoors.”

“Allergies,” Mentiad clarified.

Bloom brightened. “Oh, yeah! Ah kin help with that!”

“Apple Bloom,” Applejack warned.

“Ah’m a qualified alchemist, potioneer, and herbalist,” Apple Bloom barrelled on. “Ah kin whip y’all up a real dandy allergy cure.”

“Apple Bloom, you will not--”

“Could you?” Mentiad said, eyes wide and hopeful. “Could you really? That sounds really--” he scrunched up his face. “WAH-CHOO!”

Outside, a bolt of lightning struck the grain silo. The two sisters were silent. Applejack cleared her throat. “Might be a coincidence.”

“WAH-CHOO!”

A bright flash of blue lit the house. Apple Bloom peered out the window and winced. “Ooh, that’s a limb that ain’t gonna see spring again.”

Applejack drew a long breath in through her nose and let it out in a huff. “Fine. Make with th’ potion. Ah’ll be gettin’ some tissues fer our guest.”

Apple Bloom grinned at Mentiad. “Don’t worry. Ah’ll make sure ya feel better real soon.”

Mentiad smiled at the young mare. It was so kind of her to take this trouble, no matter what the chill running up and down his spine tried to tell him.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

They both agreed that red delicious apples were disgusting and a terrible misnomer.

As should anyone with a working brain and tongue.

“Magic is just another word for science we haven’t learned about yet,” he said, quite primly.

I imagine there's an entire college up in Canterlot that would vehemently disagree, to say nothing of Twilight. Magic is a subdiscipline of science. It's also friendship, but that's neither here nor there, unless we're counting sociology.

Really, Twilight? The overenthusiastic nerd and the laconic art student are a threat to Equestria? How, exactly?

"I'm an overenthusiastic nerd, and we both know what my human analogue is capable of."
"And if we see pony Abacus Cinch berating Prince Mentiad, I'll start worrying."

Poor Celestia. She never asked for this.

Big Macintosh exited the kitchen.

Macintosh is truly the wisest character on the entire show.

It was so kind of her to take this trouble, no matter what the chill running up and down his spine tried to tell him.

More of those strange intuitions. I'm sure it's nothing.

Eagerly looking forward to more.

[Shilic]

Applejack smacked her forehead. “That ain’t no reason to--” She paused and huffed. “Kin you do that fancy-pants flash teleport?”

“I suppose so. I’ve never really worked out how it’s meant to work. The mechanism seems utterly unscientific.”

“Ah expect that’s prob’ly because it’s magic,” Applejack said drily.

You know, you'd think that's something Twilight would end up stressing over at some point. She doesn't strike me as one to cast spells without knowing the mechanics behind them. Unless it's like that one fic where teleporting just makes a clone and dumps the original into a pocket dimension, but that's kinda dumb anyway.