It was the next morning, and the ponies and dragons of the brighthouse were enjoying a quiet breakfast together. They each had a stack of pancakes that Izzy had helped with, but for once, nopony was eager to discuss the delicious meal. Instead, each of them kept casting furtive glances at each other, the atmosphere tense with unspoken questions.
It was Izzy who broke the silence. "So, is anypony going to talk about how we had Allura's rabbit friend in our house yesterday?" She snickered suddenly. "I mean, I'm not against making new friends, but are they, or Allura what anypony here would call a 'friend' yet?"
Zipp threw up her hooves. "I wasn't even here! I would have had so many questions for that little menace if I had been. What do you even talk to a bunny henchman of Allura's about?"
"That's not even the good one. The question is, why was Comforting hanging out with it?" Sunny listed onto a hoof with a sigh. "Seeing the two of them together really knocked it out of me, I wasn't even sure what I was looking at."
Pipp bobbed her head back and forth with a half-shrug. "Sure, that's weird, but, compared to the other stuff we've seen? A little weirdness is actually normal." She waved her cellphone at the others. "Now, the important question, I don't suppose any of you happened to catch that on video?"
Hitch scowled. "Absolutely not. You're about the only one that makes it a habit to record her entire life."
"Seriously, how am I the only pony in this household that is addicted to social media? None of you would ever have to worry about this sort of thing if you posted pictures and videos every day." Pipp made a kissy face at her own camera, snapping a selfie, then a shot of what she was eating. "There are benefits at times. Now, I remind, I wasn't there either. Me and sis were enjoying a rocking concert." She swayed to the remembered beat of the show.
Pipp twirled up, stretching her wings out wide. "It was an awesome time! But I can't help but wonder what a bunny and a chaos spirit might be talking about." She gasped suddenly. "It must be a mystery! The story of a mysterious meeting between the two." She slapped her hooves to her cheeks in mock surprise. "No, that's even too weird. There's no way." She lowered onto her seat. "Comfort's a nice creature, right? She wouldn't bring over the bunny without a reason."
Izzy pointed over towards her creation area. "All they asked for was a little shiny thing. As soon as the bunny had it, he was happy and he was gone, zoom!"
Hitch shrugged, folding his hooves across the table. "I guess that means it's fine? He didn't come here to cause any trouble, or even to hurt anypony. It was just about that one thing."
Soft noises arose of general agreement. However odd it had been, nothing had actually been hurt. It was all rather anti-climatic in a way.
Sunny, however, shook her head with a chuckle. "Still, I'm glad Zipp and Pipp weren't here for it. They had a far nicer time at that concert from the sound of it. Glad you two had a nice time."
Zipp raised her phone. "I got some sweet pics and a video."
"Send it to me! I want to see how the fans react." Pipp stretched her hoof out for Zipp's phone, smiling widely. They exchanged videos quickly and Pipp got to working her magic with a smile.
Zipp glanced over to Sunny. "Did anything happen here, that isn't super top-secret or dangerous?"
Sunny tapped her hooves together idly, smiling back at the memory of the previous day. "That was the most noteworthy thing. Oh! Comforting said she wanted to hang out with you two." She waved a hoof between Zipp and Pipp. "She really wants to be all our friends. I don't mind, she seems nice enough, but it's almost unusual to have something putting in the effort to be our friend instead of the other way around."
Zipp gave a hoof bump to Hitch, who eagerly reciprocated. "You don't need to convince me, that's great! I want all the friends."
Izzy piped in. "I guess that's another pro to going back to how it used to be? Being friends with lots of creatures?"
Sunny sighed wistfully. "And also, having more adventures to tell stories about." She twirled a hoof gently. "Speaking of that, she's from ancient times, with ancient magic. Part of me's a little worried about that, but the other remembers she's literally a bag of rainbows and smiles." She blinked and looked at Izzy. "Actually, you haven't told us anything more about her, do you know anything? She's clearly some kind of pony."
"Well." Izzy popped the last bite of pancake in her mouth. "She knows magic. She's tutoring Amber, who's tutoring Misty. They're magic buddies!" She clapped her hooves together. "It's really nice. I wish I could have a magic buddy too, but they won't invite me to their secret magic games." She sighed with dreams of new magic playing in her mind. "But! Comfort is a special case."
Sunny leaned on her hoof, her other pointing to the air as she gestured for Izzy to continue. "How so?"
"She isn't a pony." Izzy shrugged a bit. "Most of the creatures we meet are ponies. How many not-ponies do we know? There's Allura, that sea pony I ran into, and Comforting, and a sea pony's still kinda a pony, right? They got pony right in the name!" She rolled her hands forward. "But she's not one."
Pipp looked over. "How can you tell? She looks just like a pony. Well, part of one? The central bit." She waved a hoof up and down to encompass the imagined torso and head of Comforting. "The rest is a hodge podge."
Sunny raised a hoof, and then let it drift down as she mulled over that last detail. "Yeah, now that you say it like that, I don't know how I never realized." She hopped to her hooves down to the ground. "You're right, she's not a pony, but she shines with all the elements. Whatever she is, she feels like a force of good."
Izzy nodded in agreement. "And she loves hugs. She's always quick to offer, and she's warm and cozy." She wrapped her arms around herself in a pretend hug. "A fuzzy friend with a fuzzier heart. Even if she is a bit stingy on the whole magic thing."
Pipp looked up from her phone. "Speaking of that, the talk around town is she may be getting a boyfriend, and you'll never guess who it may be!"
The group crowded together, Pipp fluttering up to show them her phone.
They all leaned in, save for Sunny. "Isn't that—"
"—yeah."
"—wait, really?"
There, on the phone, was a captured moment of Comforting caught mid-dance with another pony, with the most gentle and loving expressions on their faces. "I'd been hearing rumors, and I wanted to check it out for myself, and I got the goods."
Izzy dropped her fork with a gasp. "I can't believe it! Also, I don't know who that is. Seriously, who is that?"
Sunny waved at the image. "That is clearly Toots. Toots? Seriously? I mean, nice enough stallion, Toots?!"
Zipp narrowed her gaze at the image. "It is? Huh. I don't think I've ever seen him before, and I don't know, it just doesn't look like him."
Pipp swiped on her phone and tapped a moment before pulling up a collage of different Toots images. That they were the same pony was hard to argue. "The Internet doesn't lie, Sis."
Sunny put her face in her hooves. "This can't be real. That can't be what I think it is. She's so much older than him, right?"
Izzy patted Sunny's shoulder. "Well, yeah, but Comforting's, what, immortal? She can date young, or just not date at all. There's not of other options there."
"Oh, I don't mind that at all. I like them, or her, or him, or it." Sunny groaned and buried her face further against the table. "It's just, ugh." She buried her face in her hooves. "I'm being unreasonable, sorry. I should be wishing them both good luck and congratulating them. Finding a special somepony, or somecreature, is lovely."
Hitch looked to Pipp. "So, what, your plan is to bug them about it when you see them next?"
"Oh, absolutely. My fans will want all the deets, and I plan to serve them up." Pipp giggled with thoughts of the future. "Besides, it'll be fun! And Comforting wanted to hang out anyway, so it's a win for everypony involved."
Zipp pushed back from the table. "Alright! That was a breakfast I'll always remember, but now that we've discussed the mystery of Comforting and her bunny guest, we need to get moving." She cracked her hooves and trotted towards the front door. "Let's go have fun. We can come back to this later, or maybe just let Comforting know that we know about her new beau."
Sunny went after Zipp. "I'd like to know. We have to assume it's serious if it's already online, but, it could be something casual? I don't want to pry. Either way, work calls. Who else is going to get smoothies to thirsty ponies?" With a final wave, she scurried off.
Izzy followed the line. "And I'm ready to go put on a show with my latest creation!"
Pipp glanced to the others. "We should keep an eye out for clues on when Allura will strike. She's a bad kitty, and serious trouble." She zipped out the front door, looking ready to hunt down clues on that case.
***
Zephyr Heights was a bustling place of air and movement, with colorful and friendly pegasi floating throughout it, enjoying the high winds as the world drifted beneath them.
The population of pegasi, once all hiding from the ground-bound races, was beginning to change, with some of those once-terrified fliers leaving their homes and venturing down to the surface. While it was still a minority of their kind, it was becoming easier to see the ones leaving to enjoy the grass or water, or anything else.
There was also a friendly chaos spirit, visiting casually as she wandered down one of their streets with a smile. "Look at this place!" She threw her mismatched arms wide. "I feel like I'm in a real city." So very distant memories of huge places like New York danced in her mind as she watched the huge billboards dance with images and sounds.
Nearby, a few children giggled and whispered behind their hooves, pointing as they wondered about this strange stranger in their midst. She heard them giggling, and turned to them, waving. She made faces at the ponies and they giggled even louder with excitement.
Comforting continued on her walk with a smile. "Foals don't change wherever you are. Now, mmm." She looked along the long line of various stores going on either side of the street. "Which one should I try first?" She ambled along, glancing back and forth at the storefronts.
Then she felt something she hadn't expected, and stopped to find the source. In her experience, unexpected feelings were usually due to a good reason.
The building in question was a candy shop, with large windows for display and a pair of doors swinging back and forth to reveal a busy interior.
"That looks like it." She trotted along to the entrance, pausing only briefly to listen to the advertisement outside the shop, talking about the many wondrous sweets that could be found within.
A bell rang as Comforting opened the door. "Hello?"
A cheerful pegasus wearing a green apron, her mane tied up, poked her head from the counter. "Hello! I hope you're ready to tease your tastebuds. We have things to make you pucker, sweeten your day, give you a jolt, or almost anything else." She flew closer. "What are you searching for, curious customer?"
"Oh, I just had a feeling about this place. What are you most proud of having here?"
The store owner put a hoof to her chin as she considered. "My best seller, that'd have to be my sour apple taffy, but that's not for everyone." She waved a warning hoof. "Only the strong of will can withstand the powerful punch it has, like a kick to the teeth!"
Comforting looked around at the many shelves of candies. "You're really selling that." She giggled, imagining a literal mouth-punching candy. "It can't be that bad. Let me try one."
"You think you can handle it?" She led the way to the correct section, showing off a tall stand of twisted apple treats, a variety of shades of green, from minty fresh to electric neon. She waved a hoof at the bright neon strands. "The brighter it is, the stronger it is. Only a select few reach for the end."
Comforting giggled, reaching for one of the less vibrant ones. "I'm sure it's great." She examined it carefully, rubbing her thumb over the wrapper, feeling the soft material that covered the treat. Was it plastic? It felt like plastic. She held up her phone and the shopkeeper swooped in to touch her own to it. A soft chime confirmed payment had been made.
She pulled back and gently tugged at the sides, trying to find a spot that'd allow her to unravel the twisted confection.
The shopkeeper circled behind her, tilting her head with interest. "Pull from the pointy edges there."
Comforting nodded and pulled at that point. The wrapper came loose easily enough and began to peel away, but a soft clack emerged from within. "Oh, is it, um, bubblegum?"
"You should chew it like that, yeah. First you have to bite off some of it." The shopkeeper cycled her hooves. "And be ready for that sour taste explosion to knock you back."
Comforting chuckled nervously as she removed the entire wrapper. She peered in at the deep green treat inside, smelling the tart sweetness within. "Um."
"Bite, and then chew it, or just pull some off with your teeth." The shopkeeper waggled her brows. "If you're scared, just scrape off some of the sugar a little at a time."
"I can handle it!" Comforting chomped a nice big bit off and discovered her mouth was full of pure sour. She made quite the face, to the shopkeeper's amusement, but it passed by quickly, allowing her to chew at the gummy confection with a growing smile. "Not bad," she got out when she could.
"You barely made it halfway!" The shopkeeper laughed gently, holding a hoof to her lips. "You really need to go all in! If you just nibble on it, you're missing the true power of the flavor." She flew over to wave at the brighter hues. "Or you can just throw all caution to the wind, if you're that brave." She waggled her brows at Comforting. "Always nice to see a real thrill seeker."
Comforting rolled the sticky mass from cheek to cheek with a smile. "Maybe." She rubbed her chin. "Do you mind if I take a picture of this to show my friends? They love candy too."
The shopkeeper had no complaints, even striking a pose to get a snapshot of the sour candy display with her in it. "Perfect." Comforting sent it flying to her friends with a few taps. "Visiting this city is already paying off, so many things to see!"