New Endings, Old Starts

by David Silver

147 - Big Isn't Everything

Bloofy was a cute little critter. A shame it was also very stressed. So many new ponies, all being so loud and demanding, it was too much for the thing to keep up with. A new place, new people, new everything. Could anyone even blame it for adjusting poorly? It lashed out, but it lashed out its own way. It wasn't a pony, so it did it its way.

It blossomed into a great tornado of frustration and destruction to rampage through the stadium. Ponies fled in all directions from the little beast that had become a big problem.

Discord snickered at the sight. "Nice touch... It's always the little guy that ends up the biggest problem, doesn't it?" He launched a popcorn into the air, opening his mouth to catch it, thrown by the wild winds of the chaos. "But what's the next step?"

"There are already two of them... One foal was a bit naughty, but the other..." Comforting worked through the connections as quickly as she could, fingers wriggling as she thought it through. "The crusaders are officially over their head, and they know that. Lessons are being learned... We need an expert, maybe two, and it can't be us."

"Aw, why not?" Discord pouted at the rejection. "We could clean it up with a snap, literally. I suppose, more of a clap, in your case. Either way! C'mon, we get to be heroes!"

"Dad... We're watchers, settle down and watch. I know who..."

Two experts arrived at the train station at the right time. Discord brought a hand to his fine beard, stroking it. "Curious choice, but logical, I suppose... I blame Amity, corrupting my little child." He ruffled Comforting's head anyway, even if she was logical at times.

The Crusaders run into the two fairly quickly, this not too surprising, as the two were looking for them. "What happened?" Twilight looked over the transformed fillies with wide eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Oh... my." Fluttershy looked past them towards the noises of the developed problem in the stadium. "Is this related to that?"

The Crusaders insisted it wasn't, but maybe a little? Either way, they needed the real adults to follow them into the chaos. They led Twilight and Fluttershy to where Bloofy was lashing out at anything it could find. "What a rare creature." Despite any danger involved, Fluttershy fell in love immediately. "A whirling mungtooth. You don't see one of those very often..."

Sweetie waved at it wildly. "That's nice, Fluttershy. How do we get it to stop?"

"Well... If they've made good friends, their caretaker should be able to calm it down. Have they made such a friend?"

"Bloofy!" The other little foal rushed onto the scene.

Discord shook his head. "Hitting it right on the nose with that timing, aren't you?"

"If it works..." Comforting smiled as she watched the foal soothe her agitated pet. Hugs were involved, and soon Bloofy was safely tucked away in their carrier, safe from the chaos of the whole thing. "And now..." Comforting waved grandly at the two real adults. "We resolve."

"What have we learned?" demanded Twilight, giving the grown crusaders a stern look.

Apple Bloom shrank back. "It takes more than bein' big..."

Scootaloo rubbed along a leg with the other hoof. "We weren't being responsible, grown or not..."

Sweetie sagged with a sigh. "Being an adult is hard!"

Twilight smiled at the fillies. "All correct, now how did you even do this?" She looked over them. "At least, physically, you are adults... I'd say you were playing with the flower I was studying, but it's intact, thank Celestia."

Fluttershy spotted her, even if Comforting was trying to blend in. "Comforting? What are you doing here?" She hurried over to her daughter with a gentle smile. "Didn't you just go to a fair? Two in the same week?"

Comforting thought up a lie, a wicked lie. It was close enough to being true! "Dad deserves a chance to enjoy a fair too."

"Hi." Discord waved, standing right next to her. "Wanna come? It'll be fun!"

Fluttershy considered that duly. "Let's make sure the girls are on their way, then perhaps. That does sound fun..."

Unfortunately, Fluttershy chatting with them made it very easy for the Crusaders to spot them too. "She did it," ratted out Apple Bloom. "Comforting's the one that made us into adults."

Twilight approached her once-student with a reproachful look. "Is that true?"

They made the decision with their best interests in mind, even if it did not seem that way. Despite the truth of it, expressing that sentiment felt uncomfortable. The assessment in question was something that Twilight would almost certainly disagree with. "Sorry..."

Twilight hummed deeply. "If you're sorry, you should fix it. I feel certain you can, if you want." At least, she had faith in Comforting's chaotic powers. "Go on."

Comforting pulled out the hourglass from before. "What flows one way can go the other. It just takes an outside hand." She put it down the other way, the sand flowing the other way. The Crusaders shrank back to their original selves. "Ta da!"

"Hey!" The foals had issues with that. The Crusaders hadn't been adults at all! They'd been about the same age, talking down to them like they were adults! It seemed at least one more lesson was waiting to be learned. The Crusaders apologized for their lies, and soon a new friendship was made, without the lingering deceptions clouding up the air between them.

Twilight corralled the Crusaders towards the train station. "Time to get you all home."

"Wait!" cried Apple Bloom. "We're already here... Can't we enjoy the rest of the fair, please?"

Sweetie bobbed her head. "We're sorry, but we saved a long time to come here, please?"

"Please!" Scootaloo bounced in place. "We learned our lesson."

Fluttershy gave one of her gentle smiles. "Well, I plan to stay anyway."

Twilight started at that. "Really?" She looked between the foals and Fluttershy. "If you're here, it shouldn't be too much of a problem... Somepony has to get home and tell the others they're found and safe, so I'll get back home."

They met in a brief but warm hug. Fluttershy turned to the young ones, even if one was a chaos spirit. "Now, let's have a good time, but I want you all to stay where I can see you, please."

Discord ruffled the top of Flutter's head. "One less child to watch. I call dibs on this one." He brought down a hand on either of Comforting's shoulders. "You just keep the others in line."

Fluttershy smirked at her chaotic buddy. "Trusting you to watch over somecreature is a tall order..." She looked to the wrecked show, but they were already straightening up. They even gave Bloofy an award for being a unique critter. "Let's go." She became the leader of the herd, guiding them around the fair to have a nice, safe, day.

Discord swatted Comforting's back. "Now we get to try those sour snow cones I was talking about!" He zipped to fetch some with a happy giggle.

It promised to be a lovely day.

---

"And that's how it went." Comforting sat down in front of Amity. "I think lessons were learned!" Her tail swayed behind her, relaxed and happy. "How'd I do? Be honest!"

Amity rocked left and right with due consideration. "Lessons were learned... Next time, try to pull less strings. It takes practice, I'm not upset. But subtelty..." She trailed off with a little frown. "You are not me. You are a creature of chaos. I shouldn't judge you by my ways."

Comforting flopped forward, onto her belly. "I wanted to! I'm not just chaos. I'm chaotic harmony, don't forget. I'll practice, promise. But they learned and are better ponies, and I didn't fix it for them."

"That is the important part." Little Amity patted the larger Comforting on the head. "Good job."

Comforting giggled and touched noses with her mentor. "Thank you." She sat up and wiggled in an odd stretch. "That was fun. I wish, when I was a kid the first time, I could have tried that." She considered back to that time. "Mm... No, I wouldn't have been ready. I can do it now though." She could be any physical age she wanted to be, but was reasonably happy as she was. "Are you enjoying my form?"

"I am." Amity inclined her head. "Does it bother you?"

"No!" Comforting ruffled up Amity gently. "I'd say if it did. Besides, you'll move on eventually. Will it be one of the students? That wouldn't surprise me."

Amity's eyes glimmered with thoughts of that maybe future, losing some of their focus a moment. "I would like that. I want them to leave an impression, to do things worthy of that. They have so much more growing left to do. We must watch them, and guide them. Will you help me?"

"That's a silly question." Comforting twirled in place. "They're my friends too. Of course I'll help them."

"Good, that is my plan." Amity remained seated still, only her head and eyes following Comforting's movements. "You are key to my plans. You are best suited to help them when they will need it most. It will be a dark time, a scary time. You can't fix it for them, but you will be a light for them, a helping hand they can grasp."

Comforting flicked an ear back. "Is this related to dad's plan?"

"It is..." Amity's gaze slipped into the middle distance. "I don't think even he understands it all, and I certainly do not... I can't see it all, only hints. Only bits... You will be a great help, I know this... Friend Comforting, will you provide comfort?" She smiled then, a bright little thing. "I know I need not ask. You will do your best. That is all I can ask."

"All anyone can do." Comforting put a balled fist at her hips. "Until that happens, going to watch for other things I can give a little nudge with. I want all of my friends to grow up tall and strong, ready to grab life." She grabbed the air in front of her with her mismatched hands. "And look it right in the eyes!"

"A fine way for a watcher to see things." Amity nodded, eyes closing. "I am very proud of you. It is good to have another watcher, one I feel comfortable around. Hm. I just realized something, Friend Comforting."

"What's that?" Comforting crashed to her bottom, bringing their faces far closer together. "Share."

"I will." She looked Comforting over anew. "That is what you are, now. It may change... It already changed, but in a way, it did not. You were an educator, before."

"A long time ago." Comforting thought back to a lifetime ago. "Yeah?"

"You still are. Perhaps you always will be." Amity nodded with her thoughts. "You are a guider of creatures towards their best self. Comforting, is that why I selected you? You were a watcher already..."

Comforting went still, thinking back over that. "Wow... That is a little heavy. Where I came from, destiny was, at best, an iffy kind of idea."

"And yet, here you are." Amity reached up to boop Comforting on the nose. "The universe has a way. What it wants, it ultimately gets. It may take a while, but even we watchers can't deny that strength. We are servants. All we can do is please the universe, so it may know itself, and that this self is the best self we can present to it."

Comforting grabbed little Amity, hopping to her feet and twirling with the little filly that was also a god. "Then we'd better get to it, hm? This universe is a fine place. I'm up for reminding it of that."

Amity smiled in the whirling motions. "Friend Comforting, we will do just that." They met, nose to nose, and smiles shared in the warmth of a shared purpose.

Author's Note:

That ending, a bit deep on some levels. I hope you liked it! That episode was silly. I don't think I made it any more silly with Comforting pulling the strings.

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Comments

[Theresa]

Amity is learning that chaos may be a pain but it can lead to good things too. Discord is hopefully learning how to use his power in a good way though it might take a while to get through his head.

[Poparakelis]

Born to serve? Doesn't sit well with me

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

If Comforting is going to be reminding the universe that it's a fine place, then won't it have less attention for any changes that Comforting makes in anything?

[David Silver]

11663650
A delicate balancing act.

[Prettypony]

omg comforting and amity are soooooooooo cute together!

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

Lots of shenanigans this time, to say the least.

Very nice to see Comforting and Amity get to catch a breather at the end, and get a bit philosophical.

[David Silver]

11664045
I am curious, did you see the canon episde?

[uis]

"But how do we make the sands of time go faster?" She slapped it down, letting it sprinkle down. "They fall, because they have to."

Comforting pulled out the hourglass from before. "What flows one way can go the other. It just takes an outside hand."

Laws of thermodynamics? Comforting is quite orderly spirit.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

11664217

Oh that's the funny thing, I did not see the canon episode, but I did hear about it. I expected the CMC getting magically aged up, but not much of anything else that happened.