New Endings, Old Starts

by David Silver

10 - It Slips Past

That pattern. Life was like that, full of stable patterns that were so comfortably easy to get lost in, and sometimes just as frustratingly easy to lose. Comforting went to school each day, to learn and play with the other school children. She shared her progress with Diamond and sometimes Silver on the way home, and she practiced her horncraft on her comfy bed. Hers was a good life, by her measure, and the cycle lived on without objection or resistance.

She was fed by her adoptive mother, who she cared for a lot in kind, eagerly assisting wherever she could. "You look bigger." But one day, things shifted. Her mouse friend. She felt confident calling them a friend. They would come over and say hello when she fed them all. Their communication was a bit one sided, with only one of them using words, but it was a welcome one despite that.

And they didn't quite just look larger all over at the same time. "Are you alright?" And it wasn't all over exactly. "Mom?"

"Hm?" She poked her head in from outside. "Are you done?"

"Mostly, but this mouse." Comforting lifted up the balancing rodent. "Do they seem larger to you?"

"Hm." Fluttershy slipped inside for a better look. "Oh. Congratulations." The little mouse blushed, clearly able to hear Fluttershy's words with complete clarity. "This little one's going to be a mother soon."

"Oh!" Comforting's eyes went wide. She knew what that meant. She just wasn't used to the process being played out in a house mouse. "Wow... Does..." She thought the mouse had been a he. She had been entirely wrong. "Does she need anything?"

"Love and care, which you are providing." She leaned in, cocking her head as the little expecting mother of a mouse whispered something to her in its little squeaks. "She says thank you for being such a lovely friend, and she's sorry she scared you before."

"I forgave that a long time ago." Comforting went in, her face close enough for the little mouse to touch whiskers to, the two affirming their friendship without words. "That other mouse must be your husband?"

Fluttershy nodded as the reply came. "Oh, yes. They are a happy couple. She came once when he hurt his leg. That's why she came back when she knew children were coming." She began to blush softly. "She was sure I'd help if anything went wrong."

"You're an animal doctor and birth attendant? My mom's amazing!" Comforting threw up the hoof that didn't have a mouse on it.

Fluttershy giggled at the praise. "And you are my assistant. Thank you for that. An extra set of hooves is quite handy."

Comforting set the expecting mouse down carefully. "You take care of yourself." Though, she supposed, that was already happening. That was why she had come to Fluttershy.

"How are you going, with your magic?" Fluttershy was gently nudging the mother mouse towards her home, the hole in the wall she and her family were living in.

"Better!" Comforting bounced with a great smile. "Look." She glanced around before, yep, that'd do. She grabbed a stool, her horn glowing, and not flickering wildly. She brought the hovering stool over for Fluttershy. "See?"

"Oh my, very good." She reached out, setting a hoof on the stool, resting at first, but then trying to nudge it, testing Comforting's strength. "You've come a long way."

Comforting's strength had limits, and she didn't try to press that hard in reply before the stool was knocked back to the ground. "Practice pr--Oh no!" The stool didn't like being knocked out of the air. One of its legs was at a different angle than it had been. She reached for it, trying her best to get it back in place, but something had broke.

"Oh dear..." Fluttershy gently hefted it up and turned it slowly. "That was my fault. I'll get it fixed." She sighed gently. "What I get for playing with something that can break like that."

"I'm the one that picked it up," defended Comforting. "Don't beat yourself up, Mom." The idea of making her loving pegasus mom sad did not sit well with Comforting. "I'll get it fixed."

Fluttershy shook her head slowly. "That needs bits, Comforting. I don't think you have any of those. Leave it to me." She began walking away, the stool balanced on her back. "I'll take care of it."

But there was someone Comforting knew that did have bits! The next day she kept her eyes open and homed in on her target. "Hello, Diamond!"

"Hey." There was Diamond, with Silver. "How are things going? You floating things around yet?"

"Ooo, show us!" encouraged Silver, clopping her hooves.

"I lifted something I shouldn't have, and it got... broke." Comforting pointed out of town towards Fluttershy's cottage. "A stool. Fluttershy is sad about it. Can you help me fix it?"

Diamond hiked a brow. "What was it, a family heirloom or something?"

"It must have been, like, really expensive." Silver nodded along with her own thoughts.

"Just a stool..." It wasn't a special stool, so far Comforting knew. "But it was hers, and I broke it, and I feel... just bad about it."

Diamond set a hoof on Comforting's shoulder. "Alright alright. Let's go get this stool, then we can go get it fixed." She led the way of the three filly band towards Comforting's home. "So how strong are you now?"

Comforting considered that as they went. "Um..." There, a rock. She reached for it with her mind and hefted it into the air, the rock and her horn glowing, even if she was pretty sure only she could see that glow. "There." She brought the moderate-sized rock over for Diamond to see, confident she couldn't hurt... a rock.

Diamond prodded at the rock from one side. Silver was doing much the same from the other, both earth foals a little bedazzled at unicorn magic, but that faded quickly. "Not bad," judged Diamond. "So, gonna do magic?" Her eyebrows waggled with a smile.

"Maybe," squeaked out Comforting. "Let's fix the stool."

They arrived to find Fluttershy talking amiably with her bear friend. Diamond advanced forward without fear. "Hey, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy blinked, looking around until Diamond came into view. "Hello there. How can I help you?" Confusion was clear, but that vanished on seeing Comforting. "Are you two friends? How lovely."

"Us three," noted Silver with a giggle.

Diamond tossed her head towards the house. "Still got that broken stool? We're gonna get it fixed."

Fluttershy blinked softly. "Oh. But... I said I'd handle it." She curled a hoof back on herself. "Comforting doesn't have bits."

"But I do," noted Diamond oh so confidently. "And I'm her friend, so I'm helping out." She flashed a great big smile. "Because that's what friends do."

Silver threw a hoof over Diamond. "See, she's learning!"

Fluttershy giggled softly, but looked pleased. "I'm glad to hear that. Well... if you insist." She trotted off into the house, coming back out with that stool carried in her wings. "Here you are. I'd like it to be repaired only, not improved. It's fine just the way it is... just not broken."

Comforting's horn began to glow as she carefully lifted the stool once more. "I'll be super careful!"

"I trust you will be." Fluttershy patted her eager daughter gently. "Now go ahead."

And so it was that the fillies proceeded to Quills and Sofas, the local furniture but also stationary store! He whistled at seeing the stool. "That is busted. You want a new one?"

Diamond and Silver looked ready to agree to that, but comforting waggled the broken stool. "I want this fixed. Mom wants this fixed. Can you fix it?"

"Hm." He circled the hovering stool. "It shouldn't be too hard. Just one leg came loose." Davenport, the merchant of the place, took the largest part of the stool in his mouth and carried it away. "That'll be eight bits."

Diamond counted out the coins and left it on the main counter. "It wouldn't be much more to just get a whole new stool."

Comforting set her hooves together. "But that wouldn't be the same stool. That is a part of her home, and I broke it. I want to fix it, and her home, not change it." She did not sound much like a filly at that point.

A point noticed by the two others with some confusion. Silver inclined her head. "A stool's a stool. It'd look the same. Most of them, like, look the same." She waved at the great big stack of wood-grained stools available. "How would she even know?"

Diamond shrugged. "Maybe it was a gift or something. Either way, we're getting it fixed." She had a bit more of a clue, but the empathy was clearly not entirely there. "Hey, how long will it take?"

"Shouldn't..." There were a few strikes, a hammer on wood? "Take too long. A few minutes?"

Diamond nodded towards Comforting. "See? Handled. We'll make Fluttershy happy."

From Comforting's smile, that made her happy too. "Good. I'm sorry I damaged her things, even by accident." A quiet settled for a moment. "Do you want to hear about magic?"

Diamond leaned in. "I would."

Comforting quirked an unsure smile. "I feel odd, talking to you about it. Isn't it a little showing off, talking about magic? You don't do magic."

Silver poked at Diamond a little. "She's not, like, all wrong. Why do you want to hear about her magic?"

Diamond warded off the poking hoof. "Because she's a friend and friends support friends. Besides, I want to see what magic she learns."

Comforting suddenly grabbed Diamond, hugging the older filly tight. "You're such a good friend! I read about it." She released the surprised rich filly. "I read a lot. I'm going to start actually practicing it, now that... Oh!"

"Oh?" Diamond raised a brow. "Thought of something?"

"Can you see this?!" She willed her horn to glow as brightly as it could, becoming warm with the rush of her magic.

Both fillies were looking up at her horn, an answer before any words were said. Comfort began to giggle with building joy. She had done it! She was glowing!

Silver joined the laugh. "Your magic's the same color as your eyes." A soft brown shade wafting from the working horn.

"That's pretty normal." Diamond nodded slowly. "Which means mine, if I were a unicorn, would probably be blue." She pointed to her bright blue eyes for emphasis. "Can you change the color?"

That was a fine question! Comforting looked up at the brown glow and wriggled in place, grunting as she tried to flex things inside to achieve a-- "Ooo!" She had gone a bright cherry red. That wasn't what she was aiming for, but it was another color. "Look!"

Diamond clopped in a slow gold clap. "There you go. I knew you could do it. Will it be that color from now on?"

That was a surprising question. Surprising enough that her glow cut out abruptly. "I don't... think so?" She looked up at her own horn, willing the glow back. Soft brown, as it had started. "Nope! Brown is my color."

Silver leaned forward, eyes up on the horn. "That's kind of neat, having a color. Like, unfair. I want a color!"

Comforting got an idea. She wrapped her telekinetic gripper around Silver, but without much force. Than... She flexed... that way... Then.... Mmm... Just....

"Ooo!" Silver began to dance in place. "I have a color!" She was glowing a bright blue shade. Comforting had meant for red again. That would take practice. "Are you doing this?" She couldn't see Comforting's horn glowing with magic, only the light she specifically set out to make. To her, it was not at all obvious what unicorn was doing the trick, other than a good educated guess.

"Duh." Diamond poked at Comforting, laughing. "Nice trick. Blue is one of her favorite colors."

Silver began to blush vividly. "Hey!" But they laughed, all three of them. The stool soon came back out, mission accomplished. They would be able to return a repaired stool to Fluttershy.

Author's Note:

There, I did it. One chapter with very little scene jumping. Better?

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Comments

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

A good "skip a little bit of time" chapter, with a very good feeling of home for Comforting.

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

"Better!" Comforting bounced with a great smile. "Look." She glanced around before, yep, that'd to. She grabbed a stool, her horn glowing, and not flickering wildly. She brought the hovering stool over for Fluttershy. "See?"

Should be
that'd do.

[APoeticDeath]

😐

[PinkiePieFox]

[David Silver]

11148631
Fixfix!

[SethFilms]

Fun chapter, keep it up. Also some story telling event could mix things up because this chapter was just. “Oops broke it and let’s go fix it”.

[David Silver]

11148824
I thought the interactions between The Duo and Comforting were important, as well as establishing time went by and her progress as a little wizard.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

I really like the introduction at the beginning about the patterns and cycles of Comforting's life. It's soothing in a way that feels nicely...Tolkein-esque. I know of Tolkein's work mostly through adaptations rather than the actual novels, but there's a similar feeling of a peaceful, lived in world that is, at the same time, still uniquely yours.

I really, really liked the sequence of Comforting further getting to know the mouse from before, and Fluttershy's helping out with that. It's my favorite part of this chapter. Again, it feels familiar in a...comforting way, pun somewhat intended. It not only would fit perfectly in a "canon" Friendship Is Magic Episode, but, in my opinion, also in any story from any previous pre-G4 generation.

It really shows how much Comforting and Fluttershy love each in how they each feel like they broke the stool and want to take responsibility for fixing it. Luckily, in Equestria, there is almost always somepony in the social chain able and willing to help you.

Said social change starting off with Diamond also goes to show how important redemption and second chances are in Equestria's world. "Every little bit helps," whether in literal bits or non monetary kindness.

It's a fun bit of nostalgia to see Quills and Sofas again. :)

It's not only great to see Comforting progressing with her magic, but interesting that she can swap magic colors so easily, even if she can't control precisely which color she makes yet.

Comforting's gift to Silver of using her magic to help her dance with a blue aura was very cute. Then again, I'm the type who has a soft spot for dancing. :)

Oh! And Comforting's "adult" style" philosophical comments on why it was important to have the same stool rather than a very similar replacement was very interesting. Some things just aren't fungible resources.

Another excellent showing, and looking forward to more. :)

[David Silver]

11148968
It was a moment when Comforting showed her true age. She's been around long enough to know that some things are not just 'things'. Another stool may look similar and serve the same function, but not be the same, and bringing that kind of pain on her loving mother is just a thing she doesn't want to do.

This story has a lot of familiarity in it, as it should. Comforting is going through life a second time. But there are new things too, and she approaches them curiously. But any excuse to get Davenport on screen, right? <3

[SethFilms]

also forgot to say this when I was commenting and just now remembered, the "it slips 'past'" chapter could of been about her 'past' because of it would be a pun :P

missed opportunity XD

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

11149087

That's an excellent description of how Comforting's previous life helped her show compassion to her new mom that Comforting otherwise could not have if she were a "regular" filly. Really shows your skill in character writing. :)

Comforting's curiosity at the new things in her new life also continues to be fascinating and adorable. ^_^

Slipping in more Davenport is great. :D

And speaking of "rarer" ponies, I sort of wonder how Lyra would react to Comforting, and if she could sense anything "different" about the little filly. XD

[Luckyfanisaac]

Silver leaned forward, eyes up on the horn. "That’s kind of neat, having a color. Like, unfair. I want a color!"

[David Silver]

11279123
Fixed!