New Endings, Old Starts

by David Silver

115 - Being Played

"I'm home!" Comforting closed the door behind her with a soft click of the latch, not letting it bang. "How are my favorite ponies?"

"Sister!" Screwball zipped out from the back and grabbed Comforting without delay. Fortunately, she was one of the few with permission to do just that. "Where were you hiding? It feels like forever since you were home. Did you do something fun, something amazing, something scary? What'd you do?!"

Comforting held onto Screwball with two soft hands, letting her work out the excited energy of their meeting. As soon as Screwball slowed down, she replied, "I was meeting with friends, big and small. What about you?"

"I--" She pointed a hoof at herself and struck a proud stance. "--was helping mother."

"She was, and is." Fluttershy was by the kitchen, smiling at the two of them. "She has a knack for cooking, or at least she enjoys doing it."

Screwball clapped eagerly. "Of course. You take a bunch of things and you mix them together." Her eyes swirled with the vision of the wildly assembled food. "But, in the end, you have something frozen in just the right spot."

Comforting inclined her head at her excitable sister. "Wow. That's actually a good thought. Cooking, is it chaotic, or orderly?"

"It's tasty," answered Screwball, confident in this fact. "Guess which thing I helped with when we have dinner!"

Comforting headed for the table, carrying Screwball along like an inflated balloon, tethered by a thin string as she babbled and squealed with joy. "I'm sure it'll all be amazing. Cracked caught something tasty for the rest of the predators. They had it for lunch."

Fluttershy sat at the table, joining them. "Nature is a wonderful thing. Just, um, be sure you're not the prey."

Comforting huffed at her mother. "You're friends with a few predators last I checked. You're not scared of your bear, are you?"

"No..." Fluttershy considered that with all due weight. "I'm not. You have a point there... You and Cracked seem to have a good bond. Now, I'll go get dinner. Let's enjoy that." She lifted into the air and sped into the kitchen, returning with platters on her back and balanced on those same wings that had been flapping a moment before. "Prepared with Screwball's help." That got a fresh cheer from the filly as Fluttershy placed it all on the table between them all.

Screwball clopped excitedly. "Oh Oh Oh! I learned about the apple cycle today."

"Apple cycle?" Comforting arranged her plate with a few choices of things. "What's that?"

Screwball shivered with overflowing excitement. "You don't know? I know what you don't know? I didn't know you didn't know that I knew what you didn't know." She bounced in the air, trying to reign herself in with middling success. "It's, um... It's a few things, from how to get new apple trees to how to get apples out of the trees. Cycles, cycles, all cycles. Patterns and circles." She whirled her hooves around in circles as she explained. "What time of year. What time of day. All circles! Water, fertilizer, care and love. Can't stop, or won't get apples."

"Ooo." Comforting applauded in soft claps. "I bet the Apples know all about that in details. Was Apple Bloom there?"

"She was! She was. No other Apples, just one Apple as we talked about the apples, lower case, in their cycles." She resumed her round swirls of her hooves. "I think she knows about the apple cycles. Do Apples have cycles? They must! They're apples!"

Fluttershy tittered softly. "All creatures have cycles, even you, me, and Comforting. Being alive means having cycles. It's just learning them that's the trick."

Did spirits have cycles of any kind? The thought distracted Comforting a moment, but she got back to enjoying the food. Oops. One sweet biscuit had a sudden jolt of spicy heat in it. Tasty, but quite unexpected... "You helped here." She pointed at the biscuit.

Screwball gasped in about three octaves with amazement. "How did you know?!"

"Just a hunch." She winked at her sister. "It's tasty."

"Yay!" Screwball leaned in. "Next time, you help. I'll guess. I'll get it, or not, or maybe? I don't know, but I will try!"

When the food was finished, both chaotic sisters helped their mom to get the dishes put away and help clean them all. Comforting handled the actual cleaning, with a little magic to smooth things over. She passed the damp plates to Screwball to get clean by twirling and jittering with excitement. Fluttershy got the result last to get put away carefully. "Thank you all for helping." Fluttershy directed towards the back. "But it's time for us all to wind down for bed."

"Bed! Sleep! Dream?" Screwball casually attached to Comforting's top as she walked. "Do you have nice dreams?"

"Actually... usually not." Comforting tapped at her chin. "Spirits don't technically need to sleep, at all."

"What?" Screwball leaned in over Comforting's stop to look at her upside down. "That sounds boring. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, promise." She patted her sister, on the underside of her chin. "I have something to do tonight anyway."

The house quieted as each of them got to bed properly and settled for sleep. Well, all but one. Comforting sent her dreams to a specific place. She opened her eyes to behold the tree house that was Amity. "Hello!"

"Hello." Filly Comforting, otherwise known as Amity, emerged from behind herself. "You had a fun day."

"You would know. You were there." Comforting jogged up to pet and ruffle her little filly self. "Why did you stop me from helping the girls? They looked like they really wanted my help."

"No. I know you wanted to... That has been your nature since before I met you." Amity waved at the air, forming a glowing panel. "But I saw bright things ahead of them. They can only reach it with a little challenge. They have to prove it to themselves, then they will emerge from their shells and the world will be improved."

The image showed their cutie marks, all similar, but each unique. "Woah... Um... Are you sure?"

"I am sure. As sure as I can be." Amity tapped at her head. "Which is only mostly sure. I miss having complete confidence, but I feel sure enough."

"Oh!" Amity jumped as Comforting dug into a pocket and pulled out a keyring. "This is for you."

Amity's horn glowed as she floated the keyring over, turning it slowly. "I like it... but I have no keys. What do you propose I do with it?"

Comforting shrugged with a snicker. "Keep it. Wear it. Tuck it away. All good options in the end. Gallus made it and wanted you to have it. So it's a gift from him and Smolder."

"Kind of them." Amity tucked it into her own pocket. "Did you get one?"

Comforting flashed her own, though it had one key dangling from it.

"Which key is that?" Amity pointed a small hoof at it. "I remember you putting it on there now... But what key is it?"

"Mom's key. How did you..." That's when Comforting realized she had just opened the door without unlocking it. "Oops! I should get out of that habit. If I have a key, I should use it. So! Back to the girls... They need to work things out with Diamond. Will this help her too?"

"I think it will, but... things grow hazy." Amity rocked slowly in place. "I know the crusaders will grow wonderfully... This is their path, and we are helping them reach it. They will be happy. But... For Diamond and Silver, I don't know. I just... don't know... I hope so?" She smiled suddenly. "You are their friend. I trust in you to help guide them. Let the girls finish their growth, but you can take Diamond and Silver close."

"They're girls too." Comforting sank next to Amity. "But I get you. Alright, so have their marks, yay. So I just focus on Diamond and Silver and be the best friend I can be." She suddenly hiked a thumb at herself. "By the way! What's it like, playing me?"

"Energetic. Hopeful." Each word was stated with a gentle sort of admiration. "Joyful. Tender. You are curious, but in very caring ways. I felt there were things, quiet things, things you denied entirely."

"Denied?"

"Maybe from past-you?" Amity shrugged with genuine uncertainty. "You deny them, and they have no home. What does have a home is quite welcome. You have friends. It was a joy to speak and hear from Gallus and Smolder as peers, instead of... the way I normally do. Playing you is very enjoyable. Did I bother you?"

"Only the crusader thing... and I understand now." Comforting grabbed Amity in a hug. "I had a feeling you had a reason. You don't do much without a good reason. I was just really curious what the reason could have been. I didn't like their sad faces, but, yeah... growing is like that sometimes."

"Sometimes." Amity inclined her head. "I heard that, by the way. Discord did it to me. He didn't tell me, so I had to face the truth and grow. It was unkind, but it was the kindest thing he could have done. I was terrified, but there were no other words he could have said that would have fixed it."

Comforting considered what he could have said. "You'd better be careful about hanging around that Comforting girl..." No, that sounded pretty bad. "You're getting chaos all over yourself." No... "This is hard..."

"It is." Amity patted Comforting lightly. "Now you know my challenge at times. I want to help, but to simply state what I know may not be the truth of the one listening. To insist is to destroy friendships, and still they will wander away." She clopped both hooves to her cheeks. "You will warn me if I speak poorly, I hope?"

"Of course." She ruffled her filly self gently on the head. "It's hard to get angry at you right now, cheater. You're me. Cute me. Cutest me." Comforting gave a profile view. "Not that I'm not cute right now, but that's maximum cute." She dropped to a crouch to look her filly-self in the eyes directly. "That's why you picked it, isn't it?"

"It is not." Amity inclined her head. "It's where we first met, and became friends. It is where Amity, as a feeling, took root and began to grow. It was a confusing time, but it is and will always be a precious time to me. You are my friend in any form you decide on, but this is the one I met you, and we became friends. That is special."

"Huh!" Comforting didn't expect that response, quiet a moment. "Yeah... You were Twilight, but it's alright that you're not anymore. I still have a Twilight in my life, and she's great the way she is. Now I have filly-me and a Twilight. Complete win if you think about it..." She gently tickled at Amity's ears. "So now we wait?"

"Waiting is a large part of a spirit's duty." Amity waved the image of the cutie marks away. "We wait, and we watch. That is how we got that name. What we know is coming isn't always quick in arriving. That is, perhaps, for the best. How could we plan if we only saw things moments before they were upon us?"

"That would be a challenge," hesitantly accepted Comforting, pacing on her feet. "So we get a warning, and have some time to get ready. I can deal with that. I'll put an eye on Diamond, see what's going on. I won't poke her until the crusaders finish, but I'll be ready."

Amity smiled grandly at that. "Friend Comforting, you are thinking as a spirit must. I am very proud of you. Let us watch this, together."

Comments

[Theresa]

Well I hope that she can help in some way because it would boring if the cmcs did everything. Discord in the show hardly ever got to part of the spotlight even for a day and considering unlike amity they can see stuff up close. She can only see as far as roots go.

[midnight arrow]

great chapter

[uis]

"That sounds boring

Tell that to Discord, he will be terrified.

Yeah, let us watch this. Good story.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

Comforting makes an interesting point that while Fluttershy may find the predator/prey relationship not entirely pleasant, that hasn't kept Fluttershy from being friends with predators, including a big bear.

Screwy being good at cooking is a fun surprise, especially with the little unexpected but tasty chaotic surprise of adding spice into a sweet biscuit.

That was clever to have a discussion about crop cycles lead into a general discussion of living beings having cycles, especially with Screwy pondering the difference between lowercase apples and capital, pony type Apples.

All in all, the meal scene with Comforting and her mother and sister was quite cute and fun.

Amity's reasoning of pulling Comforting back from the CMC so they could learn things through challenges felt very in character for her. Which is interesting, because, with the way she expresses herself, it's very evident that she is both the same as she used to be in some ways and yet very different in others.

Looking forward to more.

[David Silver]

11555051
One hopes the same person persists, just improved and wiser with time. Amity wants to encourage growth and harmony in all her ponies. That hasn't changed.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

11555234

Very good assessment of how she is still the same, despite differences, which fittingly makes Amity's personal journey feel similar to Comforting's.

[Theresa]

11555234
I'm hoping enables everyone to have friendship and harmony regardless of species.

[chibilink]

"But I get you. Alright, so we wait for the crusaders to get their marks, then I hurry over to check on D&S and be the best friend I can be."

Didn't they... already get their marks? Or am I misunderstanding this? :P
Yeah something is weird, chapter 22 and 62 clearly mention they already had their marks. Odd.

[David Silver]

11777301
That came out oddly (tweaks).

[Luckyfanisaac]

So I just focus on Diamond and Silver and be the best friend I can be."

"Denied?"

Now I have filly-me and a Twilight. Complete win if you think about it...”(—— She gently tickled at Amity's ears. "So now we wait?"