//------------------------------//
// Full Circle 
// Story: Never Alone 
// by SoloBrony 
//------------------------------//





Lunch was going pretty well, with quips and small talk going back and forth, but we didn't seem to be making any headway. According to Autumn, everyone in the village was managing their anger really well; there hadn't been a serious nirik incident in a few moons, and even little problems and flare-ups were almost nonexistent now.

It seemed like all was well in the village, which just made me even more alert to trouble.

It's the hidden threat that is the most dangerous, so I need to keep alert to signs of trouble others might miss.

But what could I notice that would fly under the clouds for everyone else?

I tuned out the discussion between Autumn and Applejack – something about Applejack introducing Autumn to a popular singer – and began watching the villagers carefully. A lot of scenarios played through my mind as I studied them.

An uncomfortable laugh here, a polite decline concealing distaste there, a few faked smiles; it wasn't hard at all for me to pick out the subtle dishonesty around me, but I kept coming around to the same underlying motive.

It seems like they're being overly polite. Maybe they're trying to keep from making each other angry? Even the Cutie Mark Crusaders were better at hiding their intentions when they tried to trick me...

Then again, I guess these kirin haven't had to deal with emotions in a long time.

They don't seem too troubled, but this kind of repressive attitude could result in someone hiding their pain, too. There might be someone really hurting here, but too nice to say anything!

Then I've got to find them. Hmm... hidden pain...

I watched for somekirin that might be troubled, and trying not to show it; somekirin with a lot on their mind. I saw one stallion that seemed lost in thought, but he seemed to be legitimately considering some sort of problem; when another kirin spoke with him, he perked up and seemed to be discussing whatever was on his mind.

I kept that up for quite a while as the other two bantered, and I was on the verge of giving up when I spotted a kirin colt with a deep green coat and brown mane that kept my attention. I wasn't sure what drew my attention to him, but there was a little alarm-bell ringing in my mind as I watched him trot up to the market and buy some groceries.

His parents aren't with him, but that's not too strange in itself. He's smiling, energetic...

Then it dawned on me.

He's overly energetic; I know what a super-happy pony (or kirin) looks like (thanks, Professor Pie), and this isn't it. I'd expect somepony (or kirin) on a boring errand at his age to be daydreaming, not acting like this. I bet he's hiding something.

I slid from my chair, prompting Applejack to turn from her discussion to me. "Cozy? You goin' somewhere?"

I nodded. "I just want to check in on something. I'll let you know if I figure anything out about the quest. You can keep chatting with Autumn."

Applejack frowned for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, filly. I'll let you know if Autumn and I figure out what the problem might be."

I nodded back to her, and set off to follow the colt, more than a little nervous.

How am I even going to do this? It's going to be so awkward! What do I do, just ask him 'what's wrong?'

He might be in trouble! I've got no choice but to suck it up and go for it.

What if I offend him?

Well that'd be bad, but it would be worse to leave him if he's hurting.

I set my jaw and trailed the colt back to his home. I waited a few moments after he'd shut the door to trot up and knock.

Here goes nothing.

The colt cautiously opened the door, eyeing me with clear confusion and skittishness. "Erm, hello...? Who are you?"

Hopefully he doesn't have a no-strangers policy.

But he'd be safer if he did, right? That would be a good thing!

Most ponies are really kind, but you never know...

I tried my best to smile reassuringly. "I'm Cozy Glow. I'm a pony, in case you haven't seen one before."

He cocked his head. "I saw two in town before, but you look different." He shied away slightly, and I made sure to lean back slightly so as to loom over him less. "Is there something you needed...?"

I glanced in at his house meaningfully. "Are your parents home...?"

He shook his head. "Mom's out..."

Does he not have a father, then?

Not like I had much of one.

I took a deep breath. "I saw you in the market, earlier, and you just seemed a little sad. I wanted to see if you were alright."

His look morphed from skittish to one of slight panic and surprise. "Sad? What made you think that?"

I took note of how incorrect his reaction was; if he hadn't been sad, I'd expect polite confusion (or skittish confusion), but this was definitely somepony (somekirin) caught in a deception. I softened my smile.

"Listen, um... what's your name?"

"Pine Flash..."

I held a hoof up slowly to shake his, reducing my posture to be more on level with his. "Heya, Pine. Nice to meet you."

He hesitantly shook my hoof, and seemed to relax slightly from the peaceful contact. I nodded to him in acknowledgement and settled on the ground. "I dunno, something just seemed sad. It's okay if you are, y'know. I won't tell anykirin (Yes! Got it!), I just want to help. Maybe talking will help?"

He glanced around nervously. "O-okay... uh, do you wanna come in? You're lying in the dirt..."

I nodded and smiled gratefully, dusted myself off, and followed him in. The house was relatively small, but well-furnished and comfortable. I glared at it for a second for being cozy.

Musclin' in on my name, house?

I giggled at my dumb joke as I shut the door and followed him to a small coffee table with cushions for seating. He sat down, and I laid down on a cushion to try to get my height level with his again. "Thanks, Pine. So, what's bothering you?"

He hesitated, averting his eyes. "W-well, I don't really know you..."

I thought quickly, and pulled on my own talk with Applejack. "Exactly! Sometimes, it's hard to talk with a pony you know about a problem, but easier to talk to a stranger. I won't judge or anything, and I won't even be here tomorrow – nopony, er, nobody needs to know what you tell me. Honestly, just here to help."

Pine's lip quivered, and he glanced around uneasily, to see if anyone was listening in. "You really think it will help?"

I nodded slowly. "I promise to do my best. And really, what will it hurt? You've got nothing to lose, right?"

He took a deep breath, considering it, and slowly blew it out. "I guess not. I just, uhh... I don't want you to be angry at Mom, or anything, okay?"

I could feel the alarm bells going off, now, and a spike of panic with them, but I didn't let any of it show on my face. I just held my position for a moment. How would Sunny handle this?. "Got it. You just talk and I'll try not to judge, like I said."

He nodded hesitantly. "Okay... well, my mom hasn't been home much, lately. I was really hoping, if I was really well-behaved, she'd forgive me and stay around..."

I forced myself to breathe slowly and evenly. I cocked my head, very deliberately, to seem passively curious. "Forgive you for what?"

He blushed and glanced away. "... I threw a bad tantrum and made her really upset..."

Deep breaths.

"Hey... I know it's awkward to talk about. I've thrown terrible tantrums before, and I feel really terrible about them. It's okay, I understand. I won't laugh at you or judge you."

"Well... I was—it was stupid. I got upset over a dumb thing. I just was really, I dunno, mad already? About a lot of stuff? And it kinda drove me over the edge, and I, um... I turned into a nirik..."

He looked deeply ashamed at that, curling in on himself, but I just nodded politely. "That's not something you can easily control, right? So don't be embarrassed. It happens. Everyone makes mistakes."

He cringed. "Not like that! I got really upset and I broke stuff! It was like I couldn't even tell what I was doing..."

For a second, my mind went back to similar outbursts of my own, and I strained to reel it back on track. "I know what you mean. Really, I do. Like I said, I'm not proud of it. So what happened? What did your mom do?"

Pine froze up, chewing his lip, and then stammered before choking out a reply. "S-she just got really upset... and she left..."

I saw he was on the verge of tears, and I mentally cursed that I'd never get the story out of him now.

No! Focus! He's hurting! Do something!

Like what?! What can I do about that?! I can't say anything to just magically make him feel better!

Well what calms you down?!

I started with realization and I got up, trotting over to him just as he was starting to break down crying. I was really hesitant, and expected him to tell me to go away at any time, but to my shock he reached out for me. I very awkwardly reached out in turn, and slowly lowered myself into hugging him. I could feel myself shaking.

This is so totally weird and awkward! Am I doing this right?! What do I say to make him feel better?!

Well I should definitely not say 'there there it'll be okay', at least.

Come up with something better, then! Quick!

Pine started crying harder, pulling in to me, and I worked my jaw silently a few times as my mind raced. Finally, I just screwed my eyes shut and pulled him in tight, trying to push the storm of emotions inside of me down into the abyss. "Listen, Pine?"

He was so upset all he could do was make a 'hm?' sound in acknowledgement. I rested my head on top of his, just like Sunny had done for me, once.

"I'm here for you, okay? I'll stay as long as you need."

I pushed away the sense of awkwardness and just relaxed, holding him softly.

I'm surprised he let me do this. He must be pretty trusting. Then again, I didn't know Sunny very well the first time she did this for me, either...

He's so small...

It took some effort to ignore how much he reminded me of Olive then. He'd also been smaller than me, and it was just like hugging him after Mom had made him cry.

I absently brushed Pine's mane on the back of his neck, and let him lean on me, marveling at how light he was.

I guess it's because I'm so much stronger than I used to be.

It took some time, holding him like that, before his sobs turned into soft cries, and then petered off.

Eventually, the only sound in the house was his occasional sniffling, though he still held on just as tight.

"Hey, Pine? Are you okay?"

He struggled to clear his throat. "Y-yeah, I'm doing better..."

He started to let me go, and I gently squeezed him. "You don't have to let go."

Why did I say that?! It's weird!

But he just hummed and leaned back in, resting against me. I slowly calmed down from my momentary panic.

I guess it was the right call... Maybe I'm good at this?

I just kept brushing his mane until his sniffling stopped, and his breathing became regular. I gently sighed, relaxing further. I might have fallen asleep like that if his voice hadn't come to me.

"Cozy?"

"Hmm? Yeah?"

I opened my eyes and took a sharp breath, making sure I was fully alert as he spoke.

"Thank you. I d-don't even really know you or anything..."

I smiled, feeling warmth fill me as my eyes started stinging. "Happy to help. I've had others catch me when I fall, too. I know what it's like to just need someone around."

And I bet they also had someone to catch them... except Sunny.

I pushed away a frown and concentrated on Pine as he started to speak again.

"It's j-just, I didn't want to worry m-my m-mom. I've been trying to be happy whenever she's around, but she's always so quiet now, and I keep thinking she'll leave and..." he sniffed again, clinging even tighter, "n-not come back."

Why would she do this to him?! She's—

Be angry later! Focus on Pine!

I brushed his mane again, very gently, and spoke softly. "How long has this been going on?"

"A c-couple weeks..."

We were silent for a while, then, as I tried to keep my mind blank so I didn't get angry. I took deep breaths. Finally, I asked what I'd been meaning to for a while.

"When you got upset... she didn't just leave, did she?"

He shuddered and squeezed me momentarily. "No..."

I gently took a deep breath. "She hit you?"

Please no...

He nodded slowly against my fur. I didn't feel anger; instead, I just felt a heavy, icy shard run down into my gut. I kept brushing him, trying to keep the stiffness out of my movements. He jerked his head up slightly, trying to look at me but unable to with my chin on his head.

"B-but! You can't be mad at her! I was freaking out, and she was just trying to snap me out of it!"

I kept my voice neutral. "What happened then?"

He sniffled again. "S-she said she was sorry. She looked like she was h-horrified of me. She just r-ran out and she's b-b-barely spoken to me since!" His voice took on a note of panic. "I don't know how to get her back! I don't want her to leave me!"

I screwed my eyes shut and grit my teeth, trying to focus all of the tension I suddenly felt into my head so it wouldn't affect my hooves. I couldn't entirely push my feelings away, now. I just kept taking deep breaths, feeling Pine's rapid heartbeat and breathing.

"Pine, I'll do what I can to help, okay? I promise."

He snuggled against me, clearly stressed. "You promise you're not gonna get mad at her or anything? Please don't drive her away! She's the best mom there is, I didn't mean to freak out!"

I could feel my jaw ache from how hard I was clenching it.

Now's not the time!

I can't believe how well she's got him wrapped around her hoof! He still thinks it's HIS fault!

... that's a lie. I CAN believe it. I remember what it's like.

I took a slow, ragged breath in, and tried for a joke. "That's not possible, Pine. My mom is the best mom ever."

He fidgeted. "Well everyone thinks that, don't they? But my mom really is!"

I nodded against his mane. "Okay, Pine, I get it. I'll do my best, okay? And, there's this nice pony that came with me here to help anykirin who needed it. I think you should talk with her, too. Her name's Applejack – you remember her from last time?"

He nodded into me again. "Uh-huh. She's the nice lady who brought Autumn back."

"Mmhmm. That's her. She's having a chat with Autumn in the marketplace right now. I think we should go talk to her."

He paused for a while. "She's going to help me get my mom back? Not get her in trouble or something?"

I brushed his mane again absently as I thought that over. "She'll try to do... whatever's best for you. You love your mom, no one wants you two apart, okay? I need to go try to see why she's staying away from you. What's her name?"

He hesitated, and I could tell he was unsure if he should cooperate any more. But he eventually relented. "... River Flash. If you see her... be nice, please? She seems so sad now."

She SHOULD be sad! Look what she's done!

I've only got one side of the story. I need to at least try to listen...

I nodded into his mane. "I'll be nice."

Eventually, we got up and I took him to Applejack, my head whirling with thoughts. One was a persistent theme, though.

Why did the map send ME for this?!