132 - Come Bearing Gifts
Comforting threw open the door, but it never banged on the far side. That'd be rude. "I'm home." She skipped in and kicked the door shut, for it to click quietly behind her despite the kick. "And I have something special for two special ponies."
"What is it?" came in, Doppler-shifted with her rapid approach. Screwie beamed at Comforting, excited and joyful. "What do you have? Is it shiny? Is it tasty? Is it both or none of those? Maybe it's soft and we can hug it!" She hugged the air in pantomime. "Does it have a name? Does it have a backstory?"
Comforting lifted up a bag from which teasing scents rose higher. "Some of those but not all of those. Is mom in?"
"She's outside." Screwie zipped past Comforting, slipping out a window to power away.
Comforting felt sure Screwball would summon Fluttershy, so she spent the time setting out a plate properly and putting her delivery of cookies on it with a smile. "There we go."
"There we go?" echoed Fluttershy, entering through the front door. "Welcome back." The two met in a gentle hug, one arm from her, two from Comforting. "What did you bring?"
"That's what I wanna know?" Screwball zipped over to float over the cookies. "Ooo! Looks tasty. Can I have?"
Comforting waved up at the few cookies on the plate. "I brought them for you. I already tried one! I made them, with Spike's help." She felt inordinately... proud of making those cookies. She knew, in her adult mind, cookie-baking wasn't some grand new achievement. Still, she had done it, and she had it to offer her family, and she felt... great. "Eat up!"
Fluttershy took a cookie on the edge of her wing and brought it for a nibble. "Mmm... Nut. Very nice." She took a larger bite, her enjoyment shown in her gentle smile.
Screwball was less reserved, grabbing a cookie between her hooves and chomping it down in an explosion of crumbs. "Mmm! You made this? You're good at baking. Show me! I wanna make tasty cookies too!"
Fluttershy hummed with reservation. "I'd like to be there, if we try that. But making tasty things for others is quite a delightful experience." She reached up to pat Screwball gently. "What kind of cookie would you like to make?"
"Oooo..." there were so many options... "Chocolate, vanilla, rainbow sprinkles! In the shape of a pony dragon stalking through reeds!" She clapped with building excitement. "Can you help me?" She leaned in from above at Comforting. "Pleeease?!"
Comforting launched up to clap a hand against Screwball's hoof, realizing something then. "Oh, part dragon..." She had a dragon hand, and arm. She could work without a mitt if she wanted to. "Neat. But yeah! We can cook, with mom. Not today though, we just had our treat."
"Aw, fine." Screwball powered away with a raspberry in her retreat.
Futtershy set a hoof on Comforting's floating shoulder. "That was a lovely cookie. Thank you for sharing."
"I owe you more than a cookie." She went in for a proper hug around Fluttershy's neck. "Thank you for being such a great mom."
Fluttershy held and gently nuzzled her child a moment before releasing her. "I've been meaning to ask, how do you feel?"
"Great." She landed in front of Fluttershy. "What brought that up?"
"Not today... I mean... in general." She wobbled, looking uncertain. "When you came, you were very lost. You don't feel that way anymore."
"That's good!"
"That is good," echoed Fluttershy. "You've grown into a wonderfully independent creature."
Comforting tensed. She could feel where that could be going. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No! No, of course not." Fluttershy shook her head rapidly. "I'm... so bad at these things. You've done nothing wrong. Comforting, you are... I love you. I wouldn't change a thing."
"But...?" Comforting rolled a hand, daring that statement to complete.
"But... You don't need me." Fluttershy worked her hooves together nervously. "If I wasn't here, you'd be fine."
Comforting paled at the idea. "You are here, thank goodness. Am I in the way? I can do more chores! I'll take over cleaning up the house." She swirled, dressed like a maid, duster in one hand. "I'm on it!"
Fluttershy leaned in, nose to nose. "Comforting, you are not loved just by me. You are a cherished member of the entire town." She waved a hoof in a slow circle. "Just across the street, a creature looks up to you. She was just as lost as you were, and to her, you are her mother, her source of guidance and love. Just down the hall." She turned where she was pointing. "Your sister adores you and always will. Foals from the crusaders and so many others admire and... But not just them. Even the students of the school see you as one of them." She inclined her head as she sat up. "Even spirits, chaos and order. They respect you. You are not alone. You are loved, by everycreature. You deserve room to grow even more, to have a space that is yours. You are kind to share with your sister, but you deserve more."
Comforting backed a step, head down. "Which... means I have to go."
"Don't phrase it like that..." Fluttershy awkwardly shuffled her hooves. "You'll stay in town. I'll gladly help you find the perfect house just for you. So would your friends, and you have so many to pick from."
That brought to mind Comforting's other self, the one that lived on her own. Had they shared a similar conversation with their Fluttershy? How had they took it? The end result had been visible, with a Comforting on her own. But that Comforting wasn't... the same. She didn't have the same friends. She was closed off, focused on doing what Harmony required.
Comforting, this Comforting, was Amity's friend, not an agent. She had friends... She had a lot of friends. A tear splashed to the ground and Comforting reached up to rub at her eyes. "Outside chance here, mom... What if... we just made the cabin a little bigger?" She spread her hands. "Then I can have my own room, and everyone's happy?"
Fluttershy perked up an ear. "But the cottage is already as big as it should be."
"I can make it bigger on the inside!" That was a chaos trick! She was sure of that. "It'll be just as big as usual on the outside."
"Oh... my." Fluttershy could imagine such chaotic tricks. "But..."
"I said it was an outside chance..." Comforting sagged with defeat. "Mom..."
"Yes?"
"What if I like being... a filly?" She cycled her hands over one another. "That isn't bad, is it?"
Fluttershy turned and pointed outside. "Have you met Pinkie Pie?"
"Yes?" Comforting straightened, confusion displayed openly. "What about her?"
"She will be a filly forever. She'll be a filly if she ever becomes a mom. She will be a filly in everything she does. She's a mature filly... but still a filly. That's just how she is." She set a hoof on Comforting's face so gently. "And that's fine."
"But she left home..." Comforting took a wooshing breath. "And I need to too... I... I get it... I don't like it... But I get it..." She kicked at nothing once. "What are we going to tell Screwball?"
"That's a mature question." Fluttershy set her hooves on the ground. "As you are, filly or not. We will tell her the truth. One day, she will move out too, when she's ready. You're not leaving her. You'll still be in town, right?"
"Right!" The idea of leaving Ponyville sent a tremble down her spine. She was not ready for that jump just yet. "So... just the truth?"
"Just the truth. It's not like she did anything wrong, or either of us are mad at her, or don't like her." Fluttershy rose to her hooves. "The truth will be fine."
Comforting let Fluttershy head off, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She wandered to the window and looked outside. There, she could see Cracked dozing peacefully. "Silly dog..." Sure, she wasn't really a dog, but close enough? Ponywolf was a mouthful. Still, actually... She darted outside and landed in front of Cracked. "Hey."
"Alpha." Cracked sat up, as if she hadn't been sleeping a moment before. "You are agitated. Does something need hunting? You know I'm ready."
Comforting took gentle hold of Cracked's snout, rubbing and petting, to both of their delight. "No... But I want to ask you something. When you got big enough, your parents sent you out into the world, right?"
"I did that myself." Cracked looked off into the distant past. "I wanted to hunt, and my parents were excellent hunters. There was never enough food for my growing appetite. I had to go further and further to find it... One day I just... didn't go home. I made a new den for myself, where there was food to hunt." She smiled, tongue lolling. "Such is the way with creatures like me." But she wilted just as suddenly. "Oh. Are you considering leaving?"
"I'm being kicked out," sighed out Comforting. "Nicely... Mom doesn't know how not to be nice... But still... being kicked out."
"You can stay here?" Cracked turned to point with her nose into her den. "You do not compete for my food. I would not be upset to have you as a den mate."
"You are so nice." Comforting grabbed Cracked's snout to hug it tight. "I won't go far. I'll still be in town, just not... there." She pointed at Fluttershy's cottage. "Wherever it is, you have dibs on the lawn if you want it."
"I am glad to hear that." Worry lifted from Cracked. "I was... I thought you were leaving. You look... agitated... If you are not moving far, why are you upset?"
She caressed her hands together and hummed in a dubious manner. Behind her, her tail curled in a question mark, the tip dancing in place. "Because I was comfortable. Because I felt safe. Because... I love this." She waved expansively at the house that had become her home. "Everything in and around it. That counts you too."
"Thank you for that." Cracked settled on her belly, nose gusting wind once at Comforting. "I am happy you are here. If you are not here, than I won't be either. You are why I am here. This new world... It is full of things to hunt. I could place my den in many places... But I would wish to keep an eye on my cubs, and I would wish to be near you. I am glad I can do both."
"Cubs?" It clicked even as she said it. "They would get mad if they heard you call them cubs," she laughed out, imagining an irate griffon and dragon. "But, to you, yeah, I can see that."
"It's relative." Cracked swerved an ear back. "Compared to you, I feel like a cub myself. You have seen more than I. You rescued me. You have the power to defeat me with a whim. If you wanted it, any prey would be helpless before you. On every level I know to measure, you are my superior... but you never make me feel small. You never threaten me. You welcome me, with open arms and warm embrace. You are more of a parent than a rival." She wagged her tail behind her, brushing the dirt with the motions. "I thought I was long past such things, but I am not unhappy, having a new parent. When you wish for me to leave, I will, but I will hope that time is long away."
"Maybe never..." Comforting rubbed at her chin. "Unless you wanted to go. I wouldn't want to hold you down."
"Is that a challenge?" Cracked reared up her back end, tail wagging above her, looking ready to pounce. "We haven't wrestled before. We should. Now?"
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Fluttershy your daughter may not need you as much but you are still her rock for when she is worried about something. Instead encouraging her to leave put out the idea considering technically she still is a kid and not ready to leave home and eventually she will be ready to leave. Sometimes we hurry things along because we mean well besides i don't remember there being a rule that says children have to leave home when grown as long as everyone agrees on the matter. . I personally live my parents and don't wish to leave anytime soon.
11607302
I didn't move out until I was 26, because I wasn't ready for it. I helped my parents and siblings however I could until I did move out, but I did move back in for a year, because reasons. Still, it doesn't matter what age you move out, so long as everyone is comfortable and happy. And you aren't just mooching off your parents, of course.
11607302
11607318
I am pleased to report that Equestria is a far kinder place than this world we currently occupy. Comforting is not being tossed out of Fluttershy, or Screwball's life.
11607328
No but she is being pressure
It is ironic that Comforting had just "leaned into" acting more like a fillly in the previous chapter, only for her mom to say in this chapter that Comforting is mature enough that she needs her own place.
Since she is a Chaos Spirit, Comforting can be any age that she wants to. She has just been more comfortable as a fillly.
11607328
But she is strongly encouraged to do something she plainly doesn't want to do. She wants to stay with fluttershy awhile longer. Maybe one day she will be ready but she isn't a burden on fluttershy and thanks to her powers she is a big help and forcing someone to do something there not comfortable with because you think it fine is not a good idea.
So Fluttershy adopts her and mothers her for what, like a week? And then it's don't let the door hit ya where the dog shoulda bit ya? WTAF?
11607356
This whole fanfic fits in a week?
11607357
No, but it's really not much longer. Certainly an extraordinarily short period of time for motherhood to last.
11607342
Exactly. Plus with her memories of her old life she has a lot more maturity than most people her age. But she still wants to be fluttershy little girl and not her grown up girl. Fluttershy doesn't see that she isn't being kind because forcing someone to do something they don't have to do for their own good because you think they should do this isn't right. Applejack would probably be still with her parents even if they had to build another house on the property if they were still around despite being adult. Being an adult doesn't mean you must leave your home. For comforting home is fluttershy and screwball.
11607328
It's not being kind because comforting doesn't want to leave and the only reason fluttershy is making her is because she doesn't need her anymore. Comforting is technically a child! She is a chaos spirit who is on her 3rd body and she wants to help her but this isn't helpful its mean! Mr author knock off forcing her out!
Bit of a heavy chapter but not in a bad way. This might be pretty good for Comforting. Interesting thinking about how/when Comforting would have come to the decision to move out if Fluttershy never prompted her. Would our Comforting have stayed and mirrored her friends' development as they got older, or would she stay longer than that when Fluttershy starts getting old?
11607357
A very busy week it seems lol.
11608568
We had more than 7 specific mornings to my recalling. :D
11608568
Probably eventually. She chose to start over and although she remembers the past she ignores it most of the time but uses it for helping others when she can. She has barely been in Equestria for year and instead facing that technically she is still a kid who wants to stay with the people she loves. And personally I don't know why she has to move out in the first place considering home is where the heart is and hers is with fluttershy and screwball.
Dang, that's a good cookie
You know author, I don't know if its you or Conforting but I feel like she is still limiting herself.
Conforting is a God in all but name, I doubt anything non magical can ever hope to damage her, even if someone threw the sun at her I don't think anything would happen wirh chaos magic she essentialy has infinite resistance/strength/speed.
But she still acts like a mortal, she still thinks like one, the way I see it she is purposefully limiting herself to stay "Human/Pony/Mortal?" as long as she can.
Amity and Discord probably aren't commenting on it due to them wanting her to live her mortal life as long as possible but still I feel like one day she will be forced to face it.
11637412
She was a human, then a pony. Those ways of thinking aren't fast to drop. I'd argue that's likely for the best. She is not a god, she's Comforting, and that's a nice thing to be. Amity's pretty happy having a cheerful peer to share hugs with. Another copy of her, or, harmony forfend, Discord? Not what she's hoping for.