I don't get any interviews for the next few days after the Powells, but that's not weird. What is weird is that Miss Hoof is coming up to me when I'm trying to take a nap after class. Guess she has somepony else to talk to. Maybe a griffin and a zebra?
I glance over at her. She's smiling. Goodie. I quietly sigh.
"What, another interview?"
She shakes her head. "I'm not sure if I'd call it that." She motions to the door. "Mr. and Mrs. Powell are back. They want to talk to you again."
I freeze. Wait, that's not right. Somepony actually... came back to talk to me?! I slowly sit up and frown as Miss Hoof. There's only one thing I can really think of to say to that.
"... huh?"
Miss Hoof chuckles at that. "Yes, I know you think it's hard to believe, but they're back and they're asking for you. Best not keep them waiting, yes?"
"Uh..." I slowly blink and get off of the bed, all thoughts of sleep leaving. "I mean... yeah. That's... yeah."
I follow Miss Hoof to the entrance. This isn't real.
Don't hope. The more you hope, the more it hurts when they say no. Rainstorm used to say that. It's like when ponies come back to a house that they're thinking of buying to do another tour. Just because they look more than once, doesn't mean that they're actually gonna buy it.
Still, when Miss Hoof and I get to the main entrance, there they are. When they see me, they smile like they're actually happy to see me. I force an uneasy smile on my face. Holy fuck, they're actually back.
But I shouldn't say fuck around them. Thaaat might make them change their minds.
"Uh, hi," I say, waving at them.
"Hello, Comet," Ms. Cheerilee says, waving back. "How are you today?"
"Uh, I'm good."
"Cheers and I were thinking about getting some ice cream. That sound good?" Mr. TD says.
I actually manage to perk up at that. Ice cream?! Uh, even if they didn't want to adopt me, that's one of the last things I'd say no to. If getting chocolate around here is rare, ice cream is just about unheard of.
I follow Mr. and Mrs. Powell out of the orphanage, looking back at Miss Hoof for a moment. She's smiling. She's seen a lot of foals get adopted. If she has a good feeling about this...
I go a little faster to catch up to the two of them. It's sunny out, which is nice on my coat, but it hurts my eyes a little bit. It'd be nice if it was dusk. That's one of my favorite times. It's still light enough to see well, but not so bright that it hurts my eyes a bit.
"So, uh, were are we going?" I ask.
"Well, I've done a little research, and they say that the best ice cream in Canterlot is at Frozen Rock's Ice Cream Parlor."
I almost stop in my tracks. I'd be okay if they took me to some street cart that only sells vanilla, but every single foal who has come back from an afternoon with their maybe parents that's gone to Frozen Rock's talks about it like they just got a million bits. Okay, even if they don't want me, this is gonna be great.
It takes us about twenty minutes to walk there, so we talk about random stuff. Mr. Powell works for Ponyville doing random stuff, and Mrs. Cheerilee is a teacher. Ponyville sounds like a pretty boring place, but not as boring as the orphanage. There isn't a lot to talk about with me that wouldn't be boring, so I don't have a lot to tell them.
We get to Frozen Rock's, and there aren't a lot of ponies there, so we get to the front right away. Good. Less wait.
"Okay, what do you want?" Mr. Powell says, motioning to the menu board. "Pick anything."
Well, picking anything would be kind of rude, but I can probably do something more than vanilla. I look at the board, and there's a lot of stuff. There's the usual stuff, but there's one with a really long name. Triple fudge flutter nutter whipped delight. Whoa. three kinds of fudge, marshmallow, peanut butter and graham cracker bits.
"Triple fudge flutter nutter whipped delight," I say before I can stop myself. I flinch back slightly and twitch my ear. It's twelve bits. 'Well, maybe not anything' he's gonna say.
"Alright, one of those for the little lady," Mr. Powell says. "Whipped cream, caramel and a maraschino cherry on top as well?"
"Uh... I mean... uh..." I blink. "Yeah."
"Coming right up. Strawberry for me, and chocolate of the other fair maiden here."
Mrs. Powell rolls her eyes. "Aren't, you a charmer," she says sarcastically. "Come on, Comet. Let's find somewhere to sit."
I follow Mrs. Powell to the closest empty table. I can't believe he said yes. I didn't mean to sound greedy or anything like that, it just looked really good. I hope he wasn't just being nice, and he's gonna complain about it to Mrs. Powell later. Next time I should ask for something less expensive, if there is a next time. I look up at Mrs. Powell, and she's smiling at me. That's good. She doesn't seem annoyed. It isn't more than a minute before Mr. Powell is back with three bowls of ice cream in his hands.
"Chocolate for Cheerilee, strawberry for me, and triple fudge flutter nutter whipped delight with whipped cream, caramel and a maraschino cherry on top for Comet."
Wow. It's even more beautiful than I had imagined. The whole thing has got to be almost the size of my head, though that might be how much is on top of it. The other foals are gonna be so jealous. I take the spoon out of Mr. Powell's hand without looking and instantly take a big bite out of the ice cream.
Is this was paradise is like? Because I think this is what paradise is liiiiiiiiuuugh brainfreeze! I flinch and rub my head until it starts to stop. Ugh. I didn't like that.
"Gave yourself a bit of a brain freeze there, Comet?" Mrs. Powell asks with a grin.
"Worf ih." Yeah, definitely worth it. I still take a smaller bite. Can't eat it too fast, right?
"Worth it indeed," Mr. Powell mutters as he eats some of his ice cream.
"Fanks ur ish by a ay."
"You're welcome, Comet," Mrs. Powell says, "if I understood you right."
"Sorry." Miss Hoof always says I need better manners. "Anyhoo, So you said you're a teacher, and you're a janitor essentially, right?"
"Essentially," Mr. Powell says. "I wasn't born here, though. Did I mention that?"
Did he? I don't remember. "Dunno. I don't remember it if you did." I frown and tilt my head. "So where were you born, then?"
"An entirely different dimension, actually. Princess Celestia brought me here when she was messing around with portals."
I raise an eyebrow. That had to be weird. "That sounds like kind of a dick move."
Mr. Powell shrugs. "She didn't do it on purpose."
"If I burn down the orphanage playing with matches, I didn't do it on purpose," I reply. "Still a dick move."
"I was kinda mad at her for a little bit there," he admits, because who wouldn't be. If somepony wanted me, then I lost that because somebody else was messing magic up... yeah. That would hurt forever. "When she told me she didn't have the power to send me home, I didn't accept that right away. I left Equestria and traveled the entire world to find a way back home."
"Really?" I perk up. Okay, Mr. Powell just got a whole lot more awesome. "Didja do any cool stuff?"
"Oh yeah, lots of cool stuff," He says before taking his last bite of ice cream. "Scary and dangerous stuff, too."
"You're being redundun by saying that!" I say eagerly. "What's some of the cool, scary and dangerous stuff you've done?"
"Firstly, the word is redundant..." Right. Sheesh. "Secondly... hmm. Let me think of a good one."
"Didja get in some kind of big fight where you were up against overwhelming odds and kicked ass and totally destroyed everything?" I swing my spoon around like it's a sword and I'm a knight like in an old story Rainstorm or some of the older fillies at the orphanage used to read to me.
"Actually yes. I got attacked by a minotaur warlord and six of his underlings on the road to Schunie."
"I don't know what a Schunie is, but didja totally wipe them all out?" I swing my sword-spoon around. Take that! And that! "Didja drop-kick one right into the sun?"
He snorts and looks over at Mrs. Powell. "No, but I wish I could have. The warlord was some rotter named Purgle. He challenged me to a death match which, as you can see, I won. He wouldn't have even had the opportunity if I wasn't working as a blacksmith's apprentice while he came along for some armor repairs, or something. But yeah, I fought him using techniques that another minotaur chieftain and the blacksmith I was working for. They taught me how to throw knives, and that was on top of the fighting style I'd learned from the zebras."
"You still good at throwing knives?" I ask. Someday I'm gonna learn how to do that.
He shrugs. "I haven't really had an opportunity to try for a little while. Ponyville has a rather small supply of minotaur warlords or scheming griffin emperors."
"That we know of," Mrs. Powell says.
"Right, there could be some hiding somewhere. Fluttershy's probably."
Whoever that is.
"You'll have to show me some moves once you a--"
Oh no.
Nonono.
Stupid fucking Comet. One good interview and some good ice cream means that they want you? Now it's gonna be worse when they say no.
"I mean... yeah, that sounds really cool."
Comet, you fucking retard.
They notice that I'm not happy anymore, which is making things worse. Oops, we picked an emotionally fragile one. One wrong word and she'll get really sad. Guess she'll need therapy even if we do adopt her. Maaaybe we should rethink this. I look at Mrs. Powell, then stare at my ice cream. It's starting to melt.
"You go on ahead and finish that up, Comet, then we'll think of some other fun thing to do today, alright?" Mrs. Powell says.
I just stare at the small puddle of ice cream that's getting bigger at the bottom of my bowl. "Yeah. Sounds good."
* * * *
I feel a bit better when we get back to the orphanage. We went to a movie, which was fun, but I kind of wanted to watch one that was based on one of Mr. Powell's movies that he had in his world, but it was too grownup for me. The we had burgers and fries afterward.
"You have a good day, Comet?" Mr. Powell asks, holding the door open for Mrs. Powell and I.
"Oh, yeah, definitely," I say with a smile. Maybe they forgot about the stupid stuff I did.
"That's good to hear," Mrs. Powell says as Mr. Powell goes to check me in. "I imagine you don't get many days like that."
"Uh, yeah, try none," I say flatly. Don't. Don't. Be polite. I give my best smile and straighten up. Be upbeat. Appreciative. Perfect. "Thank you for today. It was really fun!"
"Our pleasure, Comet," Mr. Powell says, walking up to the two of us. "For now, it's time for us to head back to Ponyville, and if I'm correct in my guess, a certain filly is going to crash, too."
Yeeeah, definitely. I wish I didn't have class tomorrow so that I could sleep in.
"I guess so. Have a good train ride back," I say.
"Will do. See you soon, Comet," Mrs. Powell says.
Then... she hugs me. It's a side hug because we're standing up, but it's a hug. Then Mr. Powell ruffles my mane like... like a dad would.
It doesn't last long, but it's the best thing... ever. I'd erase the whole day if it meant that they'd hug me and ruffle my mane again. Like a mom and dad. Mr and Mrs. Powell leave with a last 'goodnight' but the room is colder. It isn't warm like Mrs. Powell hugging me.
* * * *
They come back more. Two or three times a week.
A movie.
Lunch.
Day at a theme park.
Walks in the park just talking.
There are times I screw up, but they don't say anything. Sometimes I almost really mess up and call one of them Mom or Dad.
This isn't right.
Maybe Rainstorm was right. Maybe I am perfect in a different way, and it took a weird family from Ponyville to realize that.
But I'm not perfect. They've seen that. Was Rainstorm wrong about... I dunno, everything? I don't know if I hope so or not.
About a month after I meet them, I'm in my room staring up at the ceiling. It's been a few days since I've seen Mr. and Mrs. Powell, so hopefully they'll come see me again. It's nice.
I swivel my ear when I hear Miss Hoof talking to somepony outside of my room. I can't hear what they're saying, but I do recognize Mrs. Powell's voice. Wonder what we're going to do today.
The door opens, and they walk in. I don't know what it is, but they seem... different today. They looks on their faces and the way they're walking to me isn't like normal. I sit up in bed and stare at them. I don't even blink.
"Hey, Comet? How's it going?" Mr. Powell says.
I blink. "We'll see, I guess," I say quietly, more to myself than them. I don't know if I want to hear this. What if they say no? My wings flutter a little as they sit down. If they say no then I just want to fly away. I'll fly and just... I don't know... fly until I stop existing.
"So, we've made a decision about adopting you," Mr. Powell says.
My heart is just about to beat through my chest. I can't do this. I can't take another no. I know they'll let me down as gently as they can, but no matter what, it's gonna be like hitting the ground hard enough to stop you from flying forever.
"A-and?"
"And we think you're a wonderful filly," Mrs. Powell says. "And you're going to be happy with a lovely pair of parents who are going to give you more love than you deserve."
"Definitely," Mr. Powell says. "We've enjoyed the time we've spent with you, but we talked, and we're not sure you'd be as happy with us as you deserve."
That's what they're going to say.
I know it is.
When they do, I don't want to do it anymore. No more interviews. No more days out. I'll age out like Rainstorm. Maybe I'll find her and we can be roommates, or something like that.
But then...
"We'd love to adopt you, if that's what you want," Mrs. Powell says, a warm smile on her face. "We'd like to be your parents. If you say yes, then you'll spend the night in your new room in our house in Ponyville. You'll be Comet Screech Powell before the day is over."
I...
My breath dies in my throat, and my heart skips several beats. This has to be a dream. I've heard those words so many times in my dreams before, sometimes even from them. I'm gonna wake up crying like I always do.
"Really?" It's the only word I can say.
Mr. Powell nods. "Really. All you have to do is say the word."
I'm not waking up.
This is real.
They... they want me.
It takes a full minute before my brain fully realizes what they said. We'd love to adopt you. We'd love to adopt you.
I flare my wings out and leap into Mr. Powell's chest, wrapping my hooves around his waist as best as I can, holding on like he'll disappear if I don't. I nuzzle his chest, and he returns the hug. He really wants me.
"Celestia dammit, I never thought I'd get out of this place..." I look up at Mr. Powell, and I'm almost crying. No. He's not Mr. Powell. "D-Dad."
He chuckles and holds me closer. Mrs. Powell scoots over and hugs me too, and I nuzzle her foreleg. No, she's not Mrs. Powell anymore.
"Hi, M-M-Mom," I whisper.
They want me. They love me in a way that even Miss Hoof can't. As parents. A real mom and dad.
I never want this hug to end.