//------------------------------//
// 172 - May I? 
// Story: New Endings, Old Starts 
// by David Silver 
//------------------------------//

"No."

Comforting had just arrived at the glittering tree that was also Amity. "No? I didn't ask anything."

"You didn't need to." Amity, wearing the form of the original Comforting, inclined her head slightly. "No. You can't heal her, not like that. Discord has healed Granny Apple's hips at least six times, but nothing has changed."

Amity approached slowly. "Chaos is very powerful, but it is not good at growth, only change. Change is not ideal for healing. A little, a touch, but the body..." She trailed off, frowning a little. "The body is a place of harmony. It looks chaotic from the outside, but it is a shining pillar of harmony. Death is when that harmony is sundered. When it can no longer hold itself against the tides of chaos that assail it. Chaos will not heal this."

"I wasn't going to ask that..." Comforting threw a hand limply.

Amity reached up, getting a hoof on Comforting's hip. "Then what were you going to ask? Friend Comforting, did I read you badly?"

"I wanted to know..." She fell to her bottom, which brought them far closer together. Comforting welcomed Amity to her lap for a gentle hug. "How did I do?"

Amity nestled in with Comforting. "Oh... I should apologize. You used your agents well, and backed away to let them finish. You were a little heavy-handed, giving them the transportation there and back, but you did let them handle the problem without your help. For your first mission..." Amity nosed at Comforting's chest gently. "You did very well."

Comforting huffed softly. "All you do is give them a place, and they have to do it all."

"It is for their growth." Amity flipped one little ear back. "Learning what the problem is becomes part of the journey, their own journey. They fix it and grow from it. Two problems are addressed at once, and they learn less to rely on a spirit to address their problems."

Comforting nodded slowly as she considered Amity's wisdom. "I think I understand. It's not about solving their problems for them, but helping them learn to solve problems together."

She smiled down at the pony-formed spirit in her lap. "You're such a good teacher, Amity. I still have a lot to learn about bringing harmony."

Amity returned the smile. "As do I. Harmony is an endless journey - the destination moves as we approach it."

She nuzzled against Comforting affectionately. "But the company makes traveling joyful."

Comforting laughed and hugged Amity close. A flash of worry then crossed her face.

"I wish I could heal Cracked's new friend Lily. But you're right - forcing it with chaos could do more harm than good." She sighed. "I'll have to tell Cracked I can't magically fix everything."

Amity touched a hoof to Comforting's cheek. "Being honest, even when it pains us, is harmony too. Your compassion speaks well of you, dear one."

She let her hoof fall. "Come. Walk with me a while under the sun. No puzzle today, only each other's company."

Comforting slid upright, taking one of Amity's little hooves. They began a slow stroll away from, well, Amity the tree. "How far can you be from yourself?"

"It's not a set distance." Amity hummed with gentle thought. "The further I am, the more it feels like there is a pillow pressed gently to me, risking being drowned in fluff. No real risk, but it can slow me." She tossed her head, ears dancing in the motion. "We're not nearly far enough for it to be a problem. Places where I have a strong connection reset the distance, so I can visit your home without a problem."

"Ooo!" Comforting smiled brightly. "Then where do you have connections? There's the map?"

"The map certainly counts. Its existence lets me visit the school, Twilight's school, easily." She drew her little hoof from Comforting and trotted properly on all four. "Being a school dedicated to my values, it would have been easier to approach, at least a little. But the map, right next door? I can go there easily."

Comforting easily kept up with Comforting on their stroll. "So you could visit mom, since my house is right there."

"I could." Amity peeked over her shoulder at Comforting. "But there is no need."

Comforting's face fell slightly. "Oh...I just thought, since she's like family, you might want to visit her again." She fidgeted with her hands. "But I understand if that feels strange to drop in unannounced."

Noticing Comforting's change in demeanor, Amity paused and turned back. "Dear one, please don't misunderstand. I cherish my friendship with your mother. But she is not a spirit." Amity curled a hoof at herself. "I am. To visit her is to distort her."

Comforting's eyes widened. "But I visit her."

"And you distort her." Amity smiled as she sank to her bottom. "But you are her child. That distortion is to be expected. You are also a chaos spirit.  If they did not distort a little... that would be stranger for them. I... am not a chaos spirit. To tend from afar and gently encourage, that is my purpose. A purpose you have learned in part. I am very proud." She gave a single clop of her hooves.

Comforting considered Amity's words carefully. "I think I understand. You and I affect the world differently."

She sat down across from Amity. "As a chaos spirit, it's natural for me to cause some ripples by visiting others. But you're right - direct involvement wouldn't be harmonic."

Comforting smiled sheepishly. "I'm so used to popping in on my friends and family, it's where I live! I don't want to put myself away, like... you or dad.

Amity returned the smile and touched a hoof to Comforting's knee. "You are learning beautifully. And your care for your mother shows a gentle spirit. You are not me, or your father. You are learning your own way, Wonderful Spirit Comforting. Neither Discord nor Amity. Your place is your own."

Her expression became tender. "In time, after careful consideration, we may find a way for me to properly meet her. But the way of harmony is patience, not impulse."

Comforting covered Amity's hoof with her own. "You're going to get along so well when that time comes. She's already friends with one spirit, and you're so much easier to get along with, no offense to dad."

They helped each other up, hands and hooves clasped.

"For now, knowing she raised such a thoughtful daughter is enough." Amity nuzzled Comforting affectionately. "Come, walk with me and share more of your delightful chaos spirit perspectives."

Comforting laughed brightly. "Where do I even start?"





"I gathered this, with the little hunters." Cracked directed a hoof, following Gallus and Smolder as they approached with a tray of meat, wafting with steam and delightful aromas. "But they prepared it. They are very good at it."

Smolder chuckled as she lowered the tray in time with Gallus, getting the tray in front of their new front. "Team effort, right? We all like eating it, so pitching in to get it works for me."

Gallus reached up to lightly pat the injured wolfpony on the snout. "Open up. Food's here!"

Lily blinked at the two little hunters. So long ago, when she was healthy, such little hunters would be chased away. They were competitors, all of them, but here they were, feeding her instead. "Such strange times." She stretched her... better leg. "I can eat."

Lily leaned in and snapped at the pile. She didn't get the hunk she planned on. The meat had been cut into slices, so she only got a few slices, the rest sliding free and flopping back onto the tray. Still, she got some and she inhaled it, chewing thoughtfully on it. "Mmm! Mm?" She shook her head slowly. "These tastes... They are new, but not bad..." She scratched with a hindpaw at the ground. "And you enjoy this often?"

Cracked wagged her tail quickly. "Very often, thanks to them. The little hunters are wonderful."

Lily's ears perked up with interest as she listened to Cracked praise the young creatures. She leaned in for another exploratory bite of the prepared meat, savoring the flavors.

"In my day, such tender morsels were for the young and weak alone," she remarked after swallowing. "Yet you share freely. Fascinating." She flinched, realizing a moment later. "Oh... I am the weak..."

Gallus shrugged. "We aren't fighting over scraps anymore. Plenty to go around these days."

Smolder nodded, holding out another slice. "And friends share food. That's like, Friendship 101."

Lily sighed, but nodded. "Then I shall strive to be worthy of such friendship," she declared. Lily bowed her head respectfully to the young duo. "You have my thanks."

Cracked made a happy rumbling noise. "You learn so quickly, sister!" She turned to Gallus and Smolder. "Tell me, what other lessons should I teach Lily about this new era of harmony?"

The two exchanged a grin. They began listing off important modern concepts like indoor plumbing, dentistry, and soap operas. Lily listened in bemusement but open curiosity.

Smolder winced as thunder shook the house around them. "Hope that storm eases up. It's been going wild. Wherever Comfs ran off to, she must be soaked."

Gallus rolled his eyes. "Hope the others got back to the school alright."

Smolder prodded her griffon friend. "They ran off before the thunder rolled in. They're fine." She turned to the two big wolfponies. "Well, we're stuck here until that stops."

Cracked leaned in, touching her nose to Smolder. "You are welcome here, little hunter. Having a friend stay a little isn't a bad thing. Is it, sister?"

"It is... a new thing." Lily raised an ear at the two little hunters. "Having 'visitors' at one's den is not something I did before. Especially welcome visitors. But I am lowest. Injured and weak, I would dare not question you. This is your den, not mine."

Cracked frowned at those sullen words. "No. This is our den." She rose up to hooves and paws. "Even weakened, it is yours too. Alpha is the one that shares, with us. But she does share. It is all of ours."

Lily's ears swiveled back in surprise at Cracked's insistence. She studied her sister's stern but caring face, realizing how deeply these new values ran.

"Forgive me," Lily said, bowing her head. "The wounds of my past remain fresh. I will try to see this world through your eyes."

She met Cracked's gaze again. "If this den is ours to share, then I welcome the little ones gladly." Lily turned her snout towards Smolder and Gallus in a gesture of acceptance.

Cracked's expression softened. She stepped forward to affectionately bump her head against Lily's. "You have been alone too long, sister. But you are alone no more." 

Lily closed her eyes, savoring the contact. For the first time since emerging from her centuries-long slumber, she felt the glimmer of belonging. There was a place here for her yet. "Have you thought of--"

At that moment, a sodden figure stumbled through the doorway, drawing startled looks. The figure shook his pointed hat, sending water flying. "Finally, I have located it." Starswirl had arrived. "The source of the disturbance."

Smolder lifted into the air, startled by the sudden appearance. "Star? What're you doing out in the middle of that storm?"

Starswirl scowled at Smolder, tromping in with a purpose. "That storm is of my own doing. It is a spell to help me find something of dire importance." His attention slid onto Lily, then Cracked. "Two of them? This is even worse."

Lily growled low and deep, the room shaking with the menace. "You've returned, to attack me again? I'm not entirely defenseless." She rose to her hooves and paws, but her hips shook with pain. She did not have the strength to stand, but she was forcing herself. "I won't lose again."

The two met with equally hateful glares.