A Meeting of Minds (ATTN: Frogmyre)

[Lux]

Heart Healer walked about the unfamiliar city of Baltimare, trying to get her bearings. The mare got a lot of strange looks from others when she asked them if there was a psychologist in town. This led to even more lengthy discussion about how she was a psychologist looking for others who practiced a similar field. She wondered if that actually mattered or if it fell of deaf ears. Maybe they were hung up on a poor pony needing help with whatever problem she had in life. It wasn't that she looked like somepony crying out for help... right?

"Let's see, I think I have the right street. Now where is this Mirrored Dreams's office?"

She wondered if she got the name wrong. But before she thought about consulting another pony she saw the sign by the door.

"Alright, only felt lost for a few seconds. Now let's meet this Mirrored Dreams."

The mare entered the waiting room which thankfully for her it was empty. She then sat on one of the comfortable couches, waiting to meet a fellow psychologist.

[Frogmyre]

Twisted Mirrors, Changeling psychologist, was worried. He was sitting in his office, near the top floor of the building, with a window that overlooked most of Baltimare. There were various small nick-nacks strewn across the room, an indicator of his state of mind. He paced back and forth in the room, still in the guise of Mirrored Dreams. He stopped to look out the window, and to compose himself. "Deep breaths, Twisted, Deep breaths," he thought to himself, doing so. "It'll be okay. It's just a visit by a FELLOW psychiatrist. Nothing will go wrong," he reassured himself.

Of course, the event causing Twisted's current statement of mind, would be the imminent arrival of Heart Healer. He hadn't been expecting a letter from the Crystal Empire, even less a letter from a psychologist announcing her visit to Baltimare. He didn't know what to do when he first received the letter, and he didn't know what to do now. His greatest fear was that Mirrored might have actually known her, and forgot to tell him. The sound of the door opening from the waiting room made him jump. "And... she's here. Just keep it cool, and nothing will go wrong," he thought, taking one last deep breath, finally regaining his composure. He opened the door into the waiting room, and promptly stepped out.

And then tripped over his own feet, falling flat on his snout. "Oh what a brilliant entrance," he thought to himself, as he scrambled to get back up on his hooves. He uncomfortably laughed, and looked at the crystal pony on the couch. "Hello," he greeted the mare, adding, "Would you happen to be Heart Healer?" in a cheery tone, belying his worry.

[Lux]

The crystal pony waited patiently in her seat reading through a nearby newspaper to occupy the time. Although she did request a meeting with the stallion she knew full well about surprise meetings where a pony in crisis may need help. The sound of the door opening in the office caused her to drop the paper and look. Mirrored Dreams was a rather nice looking pony as he stepped out of the office. It was just him and no other cliet, so maybe the stallion was getting ready for her.

"Hello Mr. Dreams," she said as she prepared to stand up, "Nice of you to..."

Before she could finish the stallion took a trip and landed on the floor.

"Oh my, are you ok," she said getting off the couch and rushing over to see if the stallion needed assistance.

[Frogmyre]

Twisted, now standing fully on his hooves, wobbly but okay, said, "Me? Oh I'm fine," laughing a bit. He proffered a hoof to Heart, asking her, "So how was your trip to Baltimare? And what do you think of the city? It's so..." he stopped, a thoughtful look upon his face. Waving a different hoof in the air, he tried to think of the best word for Baltimare. One similarity between the Changeling, and the actual Psychiatrist, was their love of the city. "Fascinating, isn't it?" he finally decided on. Walking over to the open window, he looked out, and said, "And just look at this view! It's stunning!" pride obvious in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I've been talking all this time, barely giving you a chance to reply," he said apologetically, a sheepish smile on his snout. He eagerly awaited Heart's reply.

[Lux]

Heart Healer was glad to see that the stallion was ok after his fall. He certainly was a an energetic pony, offering his hoof to shake while gesturing to the window and in the air.

"Oh that's alright," Heart said shaking his hoof, "Yes the trip was nice, longer than i've been on a train before, but still nice. And yes Baltimare is very nice. I know this may seem silly, but I've never seen the ocean before being up north in the Crystal Empire all my life. Have you lived here in Baltimare your entire life?"

[Frogmyre]

Heart Healer was glad to see that the stallion was ok after his fall. He certainly was a an energetic pony, offering his hoof to shake while gesturing to the window and in the air.

"Oh that's alright," Heart said shaking his hoof, "Yes the trip was nice, longer than i've been on a train before, but still nice. And yes Baltimare is very nice. I know this may seem silly, but I've never seen the ocean before being up north in the Crystal Empire all my life. Have you lived here in Baltimare your entire life?"

Stepping away from the window, and turning to face Heart Healer, he beamed. He started saying in response, "Oh, no. I liv-" before stopping as he realized what he had just said. "I mean yes! I've lived in Baltimare all my life!" he corrected himself, sounding nervous. "C'mon Twisted, you know better than this," he thought to himself, as he asked, "So what do you think of the ocean?" trying to make sure she wouldn't notice his slip-up. A sudden reminder from his stomach, in the form of a growl, brought to his attention he was hungry. "Since I bet you haven't gotten anything to eat since you've been in Baltimare, how about I get you something? I've heard the sea-salt ice cream is pretty tasty," he asked her. Food like that wasn't going to fill his stomach, but he was sure that he could find at least one pony in love near an ice cream stand.

[Lux]

Heart cocked her head sideways as Mirrored stumbled with answering her question. It wasn't meant to be a trick question or be complex but the stallion still had an issue with it. Sometimes there were ponies that would stumble when talking to her, mostly stallions, but she could never tell why. But as a psychologist she had to wonder if there was something he wasn't telling her, a secret meant to be buried. But before she could delve further the stallion's stomach growled in protest. Luckily Mirrored Dreams had a destination in mind to quell his hunger.

"The ocean is very beautiful but so vast. Reminds me of standing at the edge of the Crystal Empire and looking out into the open snowy tundra. But as for the sea salt ice cream I'd be happy to accompany there."

[Frogmyre]

Heart cocked her head sideways as Mirrored stumbled with answering her question. It wasn't meant to be a trick question or be complex but the stallion still had an issue with it. Sometimes there were ponies that would stumble when talking to her, mostly stallions, but she could never tell why. But as a psychologist she had to wonder if there was something he wasn't telling her, a secret meant to be buried. But before she could delve further the stallion's stomach growled in protest. Luckily Mirrored Dreams had a destination in mind to quell his hunger.

"The ocean is very beautiful but so vast. Reminds me of standing at the edge of the Crystal Empire and looking out into the open snowy tundra. But as for the sea salt ice cream I'd be happy to accompany there."

((For some reason, I find the "Sometimes there were ponies that would stumble when talking to her, mostly stallions, but she could never tell why." oddly funny. Just wanted to note that!))

"Snowy tundra? Oh yeah, the Crystal Empire is surrounded by a snowy tundra, isn't it?" Twisted pondered quietly out loud as they were leaving his office. He was still nervous, but right now he was focused on getting to the ice cream stand, which quite fortunately, wasn't that far away. From what he could remember, the stand was owned by an Earth Pony called Blue Skies, or something like that. "This way, this way," he directed Heart as they got closer to the stand. He then froze, as he couldn't remember if he had his bag of bits. A quick search, thankfully, found it on him, so he continued on-wards to the stand.

Finally, Heart and Twisted found themselves in front of the stand, with a big sign reading: 'Skies's Sea Salt Ice Cream,' with the pony himself standing behind the stand. "One popsicle for myself," said Twisted to Skies. Turning to Heart, he asked, "Is just one fine?" whilst he pulled out his bit bag, and removed the requisite amount for two. Whilst he awaited Heart's reply, he started furtively looking around for a couple of ponies. He was hoping to find at least one pair in love, as he was getting low on reserves.

[Lux]

(OOC: Well she is a cute pony but Heart Healer doesn't know that as she thinks she's kind of a Plain Jane.)

"Snowy tundra? Oh yeah, the Crystal Empire is surrounded by a snowy tundra, isn't it?"

"Yes it is" Heart Healer replied as she followed Mirrored out of his office and down the street to their next destination, "I guess I'm used to seeing lots of snow when I wake up and look out my window. I must admit it might be strange seeing snow in the distance but not being cold where I am. But that's magic for you. I'm just glad things aren't freezing and thanks to the new station they built just outside the entrance to the Crystal Empire, ponies don't have to freeze waiting for the train or having to trudge through the snow."

The two made it towards the Popsicle stand where Mirrored was very nice enough to offer her a treat.

"Oh thank you," Heart replied,"I think one is enough being the first time trying it for the first time."

While waiting for her treat, Heart noticed that Mirrored kept looking around the area. It was almost as if the stallion was skittish being watched or a more plausible idea that he was expecting somepony to join him.

"Expecting somepony?" she asked him.

[Frogmyre]

(OOC: Well she is a cute pony but Heart Healer doesn't know that as she thinks she's kind of a Plain Jane.)

"Snowy tundra? Oh yeah, the Crystal Empire is surrounded by a snowy tundra, isn't it?"

"Yes it is" Heart Healer replied as she followed Mirrored out of his office and down the street to their next destination, "I guess I'm used to seeing lots of snow when I wake up and look out my window. I must admit it might be strange seeing snow in the distance but not being cold where I am. But that's magic for you. I'm just glad things aren't freezing and thanks to the new station they built just outside the entrance to the Crystal Empire, ponies don't have to freeze waiting for the train or having to trudge through the snow."

The two made it towards the Popsicle stand where Mirrored was very nice enough to offer her a treat.

"Oh thank you," Heart replied,"I think one is enough being the first time trying it for the first time."

While waiting for her treat, Heart noticed that Mirrored kept looking around the area. It was almost as if the stallion was skittish being watched or a more plausible idea that he was expecting somepony to join him.

"Expecting somepony?" she asked him.

 

(Apologies, apologies! I've been busy with life, and RP'ing on another site, which basically took up all my time. By the time that I ended up not really thinking of THIS site. But everything's fine again!)

[but... is the quote system working? It looks a little off.]

 

"Expecting somepony?" he asked, jumping. He had been so focused on looking for two other ponies, he had forgotten that he was sitting next to some one else. "Yes, I was. And here they come now!" he replied, suddenly excited. Two ponies, a stallion and a mare, took a seat near them. Their eyes were focused solely on each other.

 

Twisted leaned in close to Heart, and whispered, "With my current and unfortunate lack of work... I've taken to observing ponies in their natural habitat. For example, these two are clearly in love with each other. They've been visiting this stand for awhile, so I decided to track their progress. I was fortunate that I ever met them, to be honest, so studying them secretly... I just couldn't help myself!" He sounded very excited, as he was. As true as it was that he was studying the ponies, it was also true that he had been feeding off their love secretly. 

 

Suddenly realizing that he hadn't done so, he turned back to Blue Skies and said, "And another for my companion," as he handed over the bits needed. When Blue Skies finally served up the two popsicles, Twisted smiled, as he levitated them both up. He levitated one over towards Heart, and kept the other one for himself. As he waited for Heart to take it, he kept one eye on the pony couple, who were just talking now.

[Lux]

The font of the quoted text is smaller but it all looks like it is there.

 

 

The psychologist was so lost in what he was doing that he almost forgot that Heart Healer sat patiently waiting for him. Suddenly he exclaimed that there was indeed somepony or rather two ponies that he was interested in meeting. He explained that was conduction an anonymous observational research of a couple and their interactions. To anypony else it would seem like the stallion was stalking them, but she knew it was only here that he observed and that it was indeed for purposes. 

 

"Hmm... an observational study,"  she said softly to him so as not to have the two ponies know, "How interesting. Are you studying the dynamics of couples or in the expression of love? I admit there are times I sit on a park bench on days when there are few visiting me and observe the dynamics between friends, family members, strangers meeting for the first time, and even romantic couples. They help me see things in a natural environment rather that a controlled office setting." 

 

She was busy observing the two that she almost forgot about the sea salt ice cream until it was given to her. She carefully licked the blueish Popsicle. 

 

"I expected this to be too salty, but it actually is a nice blend of sweet and salt. There is something similar in the Crystal Empire called Frozen Crystal Berry Pops. They're not salty and are made from crystal berries giving them a tart and sweet taste."