New Endings, Old Starts

by David Silver

105 - The Hunt, Part 2

"That? Nah." Gallus waved off the pink long-legged bird. "You? No..." He soared over colorful fish down below. "Need something... Like that." His eyes settled on some rocks jutting from the water. But the rocks weren't the target. What under it was.

He could make out the huge form lurking beneath the surface, promising pain to those that bothered it. It was a predator, but it happened to be a tasty predator, prepared properly. "Nothing like a little cragadile..." Of course, there was nothing 'little' about it.

Or easy.

But if he could take that down, he'd be the winner for sure. There was no way Smolder would go for that wet, fire resistant, target. Would Cracked? Honestly, he had no idea, but it was the biggest thing around that came to mind. The trick was how to hunt it without becoming hunted...

---

Harmony shook her head slowly. "He is placing himself in great danger. As my agent, I would wish him not to do that. But... I know you would caution me not to act. Tell me why, friend Comforting."

Comforting raised a finger. "You already know the biggest reason, and it's one you've used before. Growth. He won't learn if you just pop up and tell him to cut it out. We'll do our part, just not by chastising."

Harmony inclined Twilight's borrowed ear. "You are acting your age. What part do you envision then?"

"We'll keep him from being chomped." She made a chomping motion, hands sealing their fingers against one another as if they made a big jaw. "But the rest is on him. We want him to learn, but not get hurt too badly if he messes up."

Harmony flinched at the idea. "You would let him get hurt at all?"

"You plan to raise a gang of predators without ever letting them get hurt?" Comforting shrugged at that. "Even Twilight managed to get hurt, and she's a horse that would prefer to avoid being involved in that at all."

"Ponies are not horses." Harmony was still and quiet a time. "But you are not wrong. You were hurt, badly, but you were, and are, a special case."

"Not that special," argued Comforting as she sat back against Harmony. "Let's make sure they never get to the spot I was in. No hospital stays for these little guys. They can learn a lot without that."

Harmony jumped as the battle took a turn. Gallus was trying to wrestle with the great beast with mixed success. "I do not want... to see this." But she didn't change the channel. "I can't abandon him."

Comforting tossed a gamepad she didn't have a moment before. "Here's yours." She mashed at hers, controlling Gallus with one. Harmony had the other held in her glowing horn magic, controlling the cragadile. A stamina bar hovered over either as they played a brawling game, to Harmony's clear confusion.

"How is this helping? Both are getting hurt..." But Harmony was still playing. "Explain..."

"They are, but only the way we're playing." Comforting pointed a tail at the bars above them. "Since I made this a Street Fighter, the worst that can happen is one of them falls over. Neither is going to the hospital, or past the point that'd help."

Harmony perked. "I... see. Oh. Oh! Yes. You've masked it." She waved a hoof over the image. "Concealed the events from me, spared my feelings... Yes, that was thoughtful of you, Friend Comforting. We are watching, not 'playing'." Still, she hammered at her joystick, animating her reptillian warrior in energetic battle against her griffon foe. "Why did you give me control of the one I don't want to win?"

"You just said you aren't controlling it," she huffed out with a pout. "Which is it?" She performed a special move, making Gallus do a chi blast. She was pretty sure Gallus couldn't do that, normally... But a little chaos magic... Though, with Harmony's words, she wasn't entirely sure how close to reality what they were seeing was. Still, she felt certain Gallus was alive and actually fighting, somehow, even if the details were masked.

"Enough." Harmony banished the view, the game, gone, returning instead to Cracked walking slowly along.

---

Cracked looked up towards the sun and its warm, shining across her back. Her tail wagged with each step in time. The wind was mild, but nice. It was a... good day, yes. She was certain of that.

She had so rarely had the chance to just enjoy one of those. In the ancient past, she had to hunt to survive, and even that was a matter of using energy very carefully, or a predator could meet their end in a miserable way. The modern day was so much kinder. She knew food would come, every single day. She just had to be a good neighbor.

Movement caught her attention, spotting a pegasus flying at the head of a flock of birds. Was the pegasus leading them, or did they just happen to fly together? She didn't know, but the sight was worth watching for a few minutes before she turned her attention to what was in front of her as she wandered farther from Ponyville in no great hurry.

It was a good day. Her hooves and teeth had returned to their rounded and less dangerous versions. She wasn't about to pounce, so using that energy felt silly. "Little cubs..." She could imagine the other two, struggling to get something big to show their worth. She felt no particular urge. She was the biggest predator by all measurements.

Cracked had nothing to prove. She just had a day to enjoy.

Mmm, but she shouldn't just return with nothing...

She spotted a small hare looking curiously at her. Did it think she was a funny pony?

That was its mistake, a fatal one. Cracked ended its life cleanly and tossed its body on her back, carrying it along as she walked. It had been easy. There, she had taken part in their little game. She licked the blood clean of her hooves even as she walked. Mmmm, tasty. Even the prey of that future time was tasty. The world had improved by every metric she could think up! She was glad to be living in it.

---

Harmony smiled as she sat back. "Though she is a predator, I can feel her joy. If everypony had that joy, there would be few problems in the world. Pinkie Pie is the only pony that comes to mind that experiences that complete rapture at simple existence with any regularity. At least she attempts to share it as far and wide as she can."

Comforting joined with a clapping applause. "This is one more reason I brought her here. She wouldn't have had this back in the other world. It wasn't made for her, and she wasn't made for it. She's way happier here, with the ponies. Um, I do hope she doesn't bother anyone with her catch, but she is far out of town..."

Harmony pointed a hoof at the body on Cracked. "It's so small compared to the ones the others hunted. I am not a predator, but why is the largest predator so pleased with the smallest catch? Does that not mean they lost this game?"

Comforting giggled at that. "I don't think she's worried about winning, but..." She pointed at the catch. "She caught one, and that's important. That means she isn't ignoring the game. She could have just come back and said 'ha ha, I'm not playing.' But, she didn't." Comforting twirled in place. "She's being a good older sib!"

"Sibling relationships are complicated, but valuable." She banished the image, instead showing Applejack and Big Mac, working on the farm. "They are siblings, with love and mutual support. Their relationship is one of that, support." With a waggle of her hoof, the image moved just far enough to show Apple Bloom off just enjoying the day. "Their younger sibling helps, but often they accept that she is their ward. They protect her."

Comforting hopped up and over to the picture, grabbing it and swiping it like a phone, getting Granny Smith in the picture. "You're making it more complicated than you have to. They're a family. Granny's the matron of it all." She hiked a thumb at the elder working on something in the kitchen. "The wise elder. Applejack and Big Mac are the adults." She swiped back to them to point. "And little Apple Bloom." She got her back on screen. "She's their shared daughter. And somethimes daughters help, but it's the adult's job to protect the daughter, and they do, gladly."

Harmony tapped at her chin. "But she is not their daughter." Understanding seemed to come though. "But she is. They are a harmonious family. You are not Fluttershy's daughter, but you are. To insist she is not your mother would make you upset. To insist you are not her daughter would make her upset. You are not Discord's da--"

"Don't even finish that." Discord had a finger to Harmony's snout, though her eyes didn't cross, still staring off into the distance. "You said you got it, so just shhh."

Harmony smiled at her rival. "You have shown harmony."

"Ew, where?" Discord looked over himself for the impurity. "Quick, get it before it lays eggs!"

Comforting patted at her distressed father. "There there. What are you doing here?"

"Hm? Oh." He struck a pose, double finger guns at Comforting. "Do I need a reason to visit my little filly?"

Harmony waved to the right, casually sliding Discord out of the way without touching him. "We are monitoring."

Discord swung around and sat, floating, popcorn in hand to chomp. "Ooo, what are we watching? Did Mayor Mare pick a new mane dye?" The image crackled, focusing on Mayor Mare nervously covering up her pink mane with swipes of grey. "No, that hasn't changed."

Comforting swiped back over to Gallus. "We're watching a predator game."

Discord started. "Really!? I didn't think that was either of your kind of game." He snapped on an overly large slab of beef jerky. "I'm learning all kinds of new things today, and I'm here for it. Turn that up." He hit the volume up on his control, somehow controlling the magic involved to be louder and broadcast the sounds of Gallus' struggle. "Oooo, he's in over his head, isn't he?"

Harmony tapped Comforting on the shoulder from behind. "Spirit, watcher. This is a friend of yours. You do not wish them to be harmed. How will you save them?"

Comforting tensed. That was a super testing question. She was a little local god, and being called out on her godly abilities and how she'd approach such problems. "Ah ha!" She rubbed her hands together. "I know who can help, and just wandered off in a random direction..."

With a loud splash and a deafening roar, Cracked landed on the back of the rocky beast, tearing at it with the skill of the oversized predator she was. Gallus fell back, eyes wide. "H-hey! I was hunting that!"

Discord popped a fresh popcorn puff in his mouth. "Ooo, interesting play. She's big, but so's that cragadile. Think she can handle it?"

"Not alone." Comforting sat down next to Harmony. "But she's not alone."

"I am helping," grunted out Cracked, throwing the cragadile away with a splash as she scrambled back to her paws and hooves. "We will finish this hunt, together. You weakened them."

"Yeah, I did." Looking properly mollified by the admission that he had gotten the cragadile to that point, Gallus circled around to finish the hunt with Cracked Mirror. "Doesn't stand a chance."

Comforting clapped with a big smile. "This is going to have a happy ending now."

Discord rolled a hand at that. "But isn't Smolder involved? Will she be happy about this?"

"We will have to wait." Harmony seemed fine sitting and waiting.

Discord groaned in pain. "But that'll take days!"

Comforting blinked. "The contest is only for today."

"Trust me, days." He glanced at the fourth wall and its many eyes. "Trust me..."

Author's Note:

I feel I've gotten better at not resolving things in the same chapter they're brought up. Like it?

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Comments

[Theresa]

Looks like harmony is coming out her shell and learning more about people.

[uis]

"Trust me, days." He glanced at the fourth wall and its many eyes. "Trust me..."

Oh, now I'm getting. Days before next chapter.

[Gordon_Freemane]

"Trust me, days." He glanced at the fourth wall and its many eyes. "Trust me..."

Eh, you get used to it.

[Chrome Masquerade]

Movement caught her attention, spotting a pegasus flying at the head of a flock of birds. Was the pegasus leading them, or did they just happen to fly together?

[Chrome Masquerade]

She could have just come back and said 'ha ha, I'm not playing.' But, she didn't."

TBH, that's what I would do.

[Chrome Masquerade]

Discord popped a fresh popcorn puff in his mouth. "Ooo, interesting play. She's big, but so's that cragadile. Think she can handle it?"

"I am helping," grunted out Cracked, throwing the cragadile away with a splash as she scrambled back to her paws and hooves. "We will finish this hunt, together. You weakened them."

The word of the day is "Coalition".

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

"They are, but only the way we're playing." Harmony pointed a tail at the bars above them. "Since I made this a Street Fighter, the worst that can happen is one of them falls over. Neither is going to the hospital, or past the point that'd help."

Should be
Comforting pointed

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

It was a good day. Her hooves and tooth had returned to their rounded and less dangerous versions. She wasn't about to pounce, so using that energy felt silly. "Little cubs..." She could imagine the other two, struggling to get something big to show their worth. She felt no particular urge. She was the biggest predator by all measurements.

Should be
hooves and teeth had returned

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

Comforting didn't look through the fouth wall this time. Probably because it was funnier for Discord to do it.

The hunting part of the competition is over. Now we wait to see just how Smolder does take it. No rules have been broken, simply because none were made.

[David Silver]

11520780
All fixed!

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

Gallus trying to hunt a cragodile was immediately interesting, especially since in the past I've thought, at times, about characters trying to make a meal of the Everfree predators.

I have no idea what a cragodile would taste like, but the basic appearance, and the mention that it would be tasty if prepared properly, somehow made me imagine a flavor that was mix of chicken and lobster.

It continues to also be fascinating with how Comforting tries to work in a way that is chaotic yet also trying to avoid upsetting Harmony too much.

The funny thing is that as soon as the discussion about Gallus started to turn in the direction of getting hurt, but in a positive way that imparts knowledge, I started thinking of video games. So, it was quite the shock to me when Comforting literally pulled out a gamepad.

It was also very clever of Comforting to use the video game version of events to help Harmony feel less anxious. It's amazing that Harmony shows much sensitivity now, when at one time they were much more mysterious. But the story and the characters have come a long way, after all.

The mental image of Gallus shooting a chi blast is rather fun.

Cracked does a lot of introspection and also successfully hunts and kills what is, in my mind, one of the most common prey animals for a wolf, in this chapter.

While she's only partly a wolf, she perfectly embodies my general image of them. Swift and deadly, but also calm and noble.

Discord appearing caught me off guard, as very well it should be.

His beef jerky moment was actually really funny for me, I saw so many Slim Jim commercials in my time.

Something is very relatable to me about being put "on the spot" like Comforting is when deciding how to get Gallus out of danger. It feels a lot like a continuation of the game analogy, like having a sudden challenge appear unexpectedly.

That being said, Comforting remembering that Cracked could help was very clever. The ending with her teaming up with Gallus to help him is fun because it reminds me a lot of how a lot of older action cartoons or action oriented comics might get their characters out of a jam.

I didn't get what Discord meant by "days" at first, but yes, he has a point...time in this world works very differently from the story's world.

Looking forward to more.

[David Silver]

11522336
A cragodile is like a crocodile, and, I assume, would taste somewhat like one with more of an earthy hint, due to the crags.

Chaotic Harmony, as Harmony now calls Comforting once in a while.

I had fun with the little Street Fighter moment. One can imagine both battlers jumping around and doing special moves that neither has any business actually doing.

I actually spaced on how proper a rabbit is for a wolf to take down. But how I arrived there made sense, to me? What's a super common prey species a predator would just... get... and not even think too hard about? Rabbit was high on that list. Not a glorious kill, but she wasn't going for a glorious kill.

If it took you a moment to get what Discord said, but then it clicked, then I feel I did Discord just right!

Phew, love the bombs you leave for me in the comments.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

11522479

The mention of the taste of the crags made me think of Pinkie's family eating rocks. Though naturally they would most likely not want crocodile mixed in with said rocks.

Chaotic Harmony is a rather fitting little nickname for Comforting.

I'm really glad you had fun with the little Street Fighter moment, especially since, as you noted, it's really easy to imagine both battlers doing wacky out of place stuff.

In terms of hunting, it seems a quick kill is sometimes more convenient than a glorious one.

I agree that my reactions means you wrote Discord just right.

Thank you very much! I'm tickled pink that you enjoy my analysis so much. I hope to continue doing it often.

[Poparakelis]

"Trust me, days." He glanced at the fourth wall and its many eyes. "Trust me..."

Don't stare atme... Although I can't say anything about that, hehe