"Let's... be an adult about this." She was, at least, half an adult, right? Half chaos spirit, half adult, still in a filly's bipedal shape. "Trixie wanted Starlight. Trixie has Starlight." She counted on fingers as she went over the facts. "So, if that doesn't change, Trixie will be happy. Not having me will be minor points off, compared to that at least. So! Maybe I should just... be honest?"
Amity inclined her head. "Honesty is one of the virtues I am currently aligned with. I agree with its use."
Comforting gently ruffled the top of Amity. "It's a good virtue, as virtues go. So, I'm thinking I go to Trixie, tell her what I'm doing, and I can, honestly, tell her this is stopping things from going out of control and getting Starlight distracted. I'll be a hero, small scale." She held up two fingers close together. "But I will miss the party, and that sucks... But that's what I get."
"Friendship is not free, but it is worth the price." Amity put a hoof on her chest and extended it towards Comforting. "Our friendship has been comforting... and terrible... but I think it is worth the effort."
"You've paid more than I have..." Comforting thought back on her friendship with Amity, once Harmony. "Sorry for that."
"Friendship is not a contest." Amity wagged her tail with a sudden bit of energy. "If it was, I declare us both winners of it."
"Aw." Comforting dropped to a knee to hug Amity gently. "Alright, I gotta get to fixing friendship problems of my own making." With a final wave, she stepped back into... a cave? "Trixie?"
Trixie jumped in surprise. "Nice Discord! I mean... Comforting." She finished her turn towards Comforting. "What are you doing here?"
"I would also like to know that." There was Maud, watching her with an even gaze. "This is my home." Her tone was even and flat, but that was her style. "Not yours."
"Sorry." Comforting waved her hands placatingly. "I just wanted to give Trixie a quick update, then I'll get out of the way, promise."
Trixie motioned for Maud to stay composed, although she never seemed overly agitated in the first place. "Trixie knows Comforting. She's nice. She even helped make the cake!"
"Oh." Maud inclined her head faintly, considering Comforting. "What are you?"
Comforting pointed at herself. "I'm a chaos spirit named Comforting Shade. Speaking of that, this is a lovely cave." Well, as caves went. It was clean and fresh and lived in warmly. "Nice to meet you, Maud."
"I didn't say my name." Still, she offered a hoof in a little clop. "Hello. What is your update?"
Comforting turned fully on Trixie. "I went to make sure Starlight's student wasn't getting in trouble, so you could have a great time, and because I felt bad." It was more the second, but she didn't feel the need to emphasize that. "And she was getting into trouble."
Trixie clopped a hoof on her head. "Figures. You took care of that?"
"I am taking care of that. I need to go pick up her family and get them safely to Ponyville, so I may be late to the party, but Starlight won't be bothered."
Trixie shrugged at that. "Get here when you can get here."
Comforting froze a moment in surprise. "Not upset?"
"Should Trixie be?" Trixie inclined her head. "No offense, but Trixie barely knows you. Thanks for the cake! But other than that..." She rolled a hoof slowly. "Get here when you can. Besides, you're helping Trixie by making sure Starlight doesn't get distracted! Oh, I asked her about what you were talking about with her."
Maud looked between the two of them. "This is my home."
"Sorry!" Comforting lifted up, as if not touching the ground made it all better. "What did..." She was grabbed.
Maud had taken hold of both of them, one hoof to either, and walked out of her caves, dumping Trixie and Comforting on the ground outside. Without a word, she walked back inside.
Trixie dusted herself off. "Seriously, Maud... She's nice, usually... I think she doesn't like that you just appeared in her house like that. It scar--startled Trixie the first time you did it to her. As we were saying, now that Starlight is listening to reason, she saw you were just talking common sense, so she should have things less... crazy, in the future."
"I'm super glad to hear that. Also... how did she do that?" Comforting rubbed the spot that had been held by a hoof, somehow...
"Trixie has learned not to ask. Earth ponies have magic, and Maud has it in spades." Trixie adjusted her hat back to straight. "It is a mysterious and potent force. She and Pinkie are drowning in it. It's best that they like us, in the end." She smirked at that. "Now, you have things to do, do you not?"
"Tomorrow!" Comforting rocked in place. "Actually.. Since I'm here, today... If Maud isn't too angry, can I meet her properly?"
Trixie peered into the darkness of the cave. "Fine... You've done Trixie a favor. I'll go see how she's feeling. Wait here." She descended into the earth, never to be seen again. At least for a minute or three.
She was not alone, Maud walking at her side. "She wants to talk to you." Trixie was pointing ahead at Comforting. "She's good friends with your sister, and she's the daughter of Fluttershy if that helps?"
"It doesn't." Maud stepped out of her cave, eyes on Comforting. "Hello. What did you want?"
"You, mostly." Comforting smiled at her maybe future friend. "Hello! I'm Comforting, as Trixie said. I was hoping to meet you, without annoying you..."
"We've met." She was quiet for a time, the conversation dying. "Before." She pointed back in the cave.
"We did that... Sorry." Comforting rubbed behind her head. "Sorry." It took some adjusting to try to approach things from the way Maud was putting out. "I've heard you are quite the gem collector."
"I don't collect them, I study them. I'm a rocktor, according to my sister." Her expression was flat, her motions few.
"Rock doctor!" Comforting clapped at the idea. "What's the most insteresting rock you've found?"
Maud actually smiled, just a little. "Since you asked." She reached back into herself and drew out this pale blue long rock. "This is the only of its kind I have encountered." She began to run down its properties, from its salinity to its density, and its makeup. "No other rock has perfectly matched it. What conditions caused it to form? I am still endeavoring to figure it out."
Comforting peered at it critically. A little window popped open in her view, revealing its secrets. She could have shared those secrets, but... To do that felt like it would just be snatching away Maud's work. Well... "If you could just... know that answer, would that make you happy?"
Maud curled a hoof, tapping her chin in slow thought. "If I could do that with all rocks, I would accomplish a lot, but if I could only do that once, I would save it for a more important rock. This one is a curiosity." She stuffed it away, hiding the status box with it. "Pondering and hunting for it is half the fun." Not that she looked like she was having fun, but she wasn't the sort to express that. "Trixie said you were like Discord. Discord is very loud, and sometimes rude. Are you also that?"
Comforting colored at the question. "N-no... I try to be a nice creature."
Trixie waved at Comforting. "Nice Discord, I've called her that before, also Baby Discord. She prefers Comforting though."
"Way better..." She awkwardly rubbed behind her head. "Who else is coming to that party?"
Maud perked. "Oh. Trixie, Mudbriar, Sunburst..." She pointed at herself. "Me."
Trixie nodded at Comforting. "Maybe you, depending on when you're free."
Maud cocked a brow. "You didn't ask me."
Trixie smiled with what could almost be mistook for shame. "She made the cake, remember? You wouldn't keep her out, would you?"
Maud looked away from Trixie, back to Comforting. "You can come."
Comforting bounced with obvious joy. "Thank you for inviting me." The thought arose. "Should I come in the front door." She pointed to the cave. "Or do you mind if I just... skip it?"
"I don't have a door." Nope, no door on that cave. "Should I get a door?"
Trixie nodded. "Mmhmm. If you had a door, you could lock it. It'd also keep rain from coming in. Trixie agrees with the door idea."
"Hm." Just like that, Maud tossed it aside for later consideration. "Now that I know who you are, you can come in the way you like coming in." She inclined her head faintly. "But it is my home. I could be indecent. It will be your fault if you see what you do not want to see."
Comforting blinked slowly. "You're a pony..." Did ponies even come in an indecent flavor?
"Yes." And that was that. Maud was not offering any other details.
"Alright, my fault then." Comforting had no idea what the potential worst case scenario could even be. Well, there was the human level of indecency. She just hadn't seen any ponies displaying that. They were simpler and pure beings that didn't have to deal with those things. It was likely for the best.
Where did baby ponies come from?
If she wanted that answer, she'd have to ask Fluttershy, and that might make her mom uncomfortable, or not. That was a part of the natural cycle, and she was kinda into that, so maybe she'd give a big detailed explination of how that worked.
Comforting just had to ask. That was another question for another day. "It was nice meeting you. Can I hug you?"
Maud offered an arm. "Pinkie doesn't usually ask."
Comforting came in and they embraced. She discovered that earth ponies could give really tight hugs. Fortunately, chaos spirits could also take a tight hug, even if there were a few pops and snaps involved. "Wow!"
Trixie shook her head slowly. "Maud gives... really big hugs. Are you alright? That sounded... painful."
"I'm fine," got out Comforting, voice cracking as she shook herself back into one piece. "Big hugs! Sounds like we have something in common. I don't like unannounced hugs either."
Maud nodded in silent agreement. "See you tomorrow, maybe." She turned and headed into the darkness, leaving them behind.
Trixie snickered softly. "I think she likes you."
"How can you tell? I'm happy! Just... how?" She waved with each part of the statement. "It'll take a bit to tune into that."
"It's subtle," agreed Trixie with a nod. "Alright, good luck with whatever you're doing. Trixie has things to do too!" She threw down a smoke bomb. When the smoke cleared, she was gone, leaving Comforting alone.
Comforting reached up, pulling down the schedule of where and when she needed to be, "Let's check it out." She flew up and came down on a train station platform. "Nice." There were more griffons and hippogriffs there, with only a few ponies in sight. They really were at the edge of the nation of Equestria. She wandered up to the front counter with a smile. "Hi there."
"Hey." The hippogriff leaned in over the counter. "Woah, what are you? Sorry, that's rude." He sat back with a cough. "Welcome! How can I help you today?" He glanced about. "How was that?"
"Perfect." Comforting hopped up, dangling off the counter. "New?"
"First week," laughed out the hippogriff. "Still learning the ropes, but I'm ready to help! Want to get a ticket?"
"Tempting, but I'm here--" She pointed up at the dense sign of arrivals and departures. "--To pick someone up, tomorrow actually."
"Tomorrow!" He slapped a palm against this forehead, his shapeshifting pendant jangling in the motion. "You're early! Do you need to get a place to stay for tonight?"
"You are so helpful!" She decided that hippogriff was a nice person. "But I'm alright, promise. So they arrive over there?" She pointed off.
"That's the one." He nodded. "Technically, they come and go there. You would wait here." He pointed far closer. "And creatures coming off can come through the gate and meet you. Have fun! You sure you're alright?"