New Endings, Old Starts

by David Silver

148 - Silver and Diamond

"It's been way too long." Diamond sipped her colorful drink. "What's been distracting you so much?"

Silver chewed on a bit of French(Prench?) toast. "Yeah! Like, we don't bite."

Comforting tapped her fingers together, looking sheepishly ashamed. "Sorry. I wasn't trying to avoid you two, just caught up in other things. Speaking of that! It's your turn."

Diamond cocked a brow. "Our turn for what?"

Outright saying growth felt wrong. "To check in and love my friends, of course." She double finger gunned at Diamond. "How's mom been?"

Diamond cringed at the topic. "A little better, but not what I want to chat about over breakfast." She took a slow breath. "We made... a deal of sorts."

Comforting and Silver perked at that with mutual interest. The soft noises of the stirring Ponyville were nothing compared to that. Comforting leaned in all the closer. "You can't not tell us the details! What deal?"

Diamond tapped her hooves together, a gesture quite similar to Comforting's nervous finger tapping. "Just that if I kept getting good grades, she'd lay off a little... I still have to learn how to do her stuff, but only a few days a week instead of all the time, if I don't slack off at school."

Silver pumped an arm, though she had no fist to ball. Her hoof was, helpfully, pre-balled. "That's great news! You usually get good grades anyway. You're, like, kinda smart."

"Only kinda?" She smirked at her friend. "That's the best I get?"

"You know I didn't mean it like that!" The two burst into friendly giggles, not a bit of bad air between them. Silver fixed her eyes on Comforting. "I heard you did it, again!"

"What's I do?" Comforting looked herself over for anything obviously out of place.

"You made a foal into an adult." Silver crossed her arms. "Three of them this time. Is this going to be a habit of yours? Like, not sure I approve of that."

She was getting a lecture on her chaotic powers, by a little filly. Part of Comforting wanted to laugh, but another was ashamed. Silver did have a point..."Sorry..." How much could she tell Silver? "I was showing them a bit of the world by letting them experience things in an adult's horsehoes. They picked up it's more complicated than just getting what you want."

Diamond snickered, hooves rubbing with the visions. "So, they got into trouble, huh? I didn't get into trouble as an adult."

Comforting thought back to Diamond's time as an adult. "No offense, but you kinda did... You just got back out of it. It was fairly mature."

"Cursed with faint praise!" Diamond tossed up her hooves briefly. "Both of you today." She chomped her breakfast hay bacon in a display of anger venting via food.

"I didn't mean to." Comforting looked to Silver, who seemed far more amused than anything else. "How can I make it up to Diamond?"

"Well..." Silver tapped at her chin thoughtfully. "You can do, like, almost anything, right?"

"Almost?" Comforting worried about what wild thing Silver was dreaming up. "If it won't hurt things."

"Right right." She waved at Diamond. "There's this show that I know Diamond really wanted to go to, but it's way far away. Like, a whole other country away!"

Diamond scowled at Silver. "Stop dreaming. Even if she could get me there, the performance is so long, I'd never fit school into the same day, and it's on a school day. I don't want mom angry at me, again."

Comforting felt her heart swell at the display of maturity on Diamond's part. "Are they only doing the show once?"

"Once a year." Diamond held up a lone hoof. "And right on a school day. Bad luck.. In their country, it's a holiday, so anycreature that wants to go, can. Easy for them, not so easy for me."

Comforting got a sly look. One Diamond picked on quickly. "What are you thinking up?"

:"Just an idea that came to mind... And it doesn't even involve chaos magic."

Silver's ears wagged with wonder. "Really? What is it? Share!"

"No big deal.. But if this show is a big cultural deal for them, you could just... bring it up?" Was she just giving an answer? She felt unsure. "With your teacher. She might bring the class there to see it. Do you do field trips?"

Diamond tapped at her chin. "Miss Cheerilee would never, on her own, go that far just for us to see a show... On the other hoof..." Her own wheels were spinning, kicked into gear with Comforting's idea. "If mom thought it would be a step towards molding me into her perfectly cultural pony, she can and would put the right pressure on Cheeilee to make it happen, while helping fund the trip."

Silver threw up her hooves with joy. "Sounds like we get to see a show! I always wanted to see a minotaur play. I hear they take them super seriously."

"Don't count your Scootaloos before they hatch." Diamond leaned back with schemes in her eyes. "I have to actually do it first. Gonna guess Comfy's not gonna just make her do it."

"I would not." That. That would definitely be over the line to just giving an answer, and being a mean creature too. Nope, no casual mind control.

"Figured." Diamond casually tossed that option aside with a nod. "So I have to do it." She hopped to the ground. "Thanks for the breakfast, but there's no time like now!" She marched off with a purpose in her eyes.

Silver chomped her food, watching Diamond walk off. "Think she'll do it?"

"I feel certain she'll try." Comforting leaned in towards Silver. "Do you want her to?"

"Duh! I just said I'd like to see it. I wasn't lying. Daddy would pay for me to go, but he wouldn't want me to miss school either. So it school goes, that'd, like, be way better."

Comforting considered that a moment. "We'll have to hope. Meanwhile... Is this an adult play, or a child's play, or what?"

"It's the story of their nation's founding. We do plays about ours the same way, and it's just as big a deal when we do it." Silver rolled a hoof as she explained. "Theirs has a bit more violence in theirs, but it's not that bad if you're worried. I hear it's exciting, not grizzly. They have children too in those seats."

"Glad to hear that." Helping them go to watch something inappropriate wasn't the idea. "I didn't even know minotaurs had plays, but that sounsd silly, saying it. Of course they do... I wanna see it now." But, alas, she did not go to that foal school. She want to a grown school, with grown ponies.

Silver shrugged at Comforting. "Why don't you follow your own advice?"

"Huh?"

"Talk to your teacher, duh. Maybe they'll agree it's worth taking a trip for." Silver smiled with fresh calcualtions. "Even older ponies... They are there to learn about friendship, right?"

"Right?" Comforting leaned in a little, curious where Silver was going.

"So, learning to appreciate another creature's cultural landmarks sure sounds like a good friendship lesson, like, to me."

Comforting sat back. It all seemed so obvious, having had it said to her. "You are so clever." She grabbed Silver by the cheeks and ruffled with building joy. "Thank you. I'll try. They may say yes, or not, but I have to ask to find out."

Silver brushed Comforting's grabbing hands away. "Cut that out," she giggled, regaining her personal space. "That tickles! Well, there you go. I fixed it."

"You did." Comforting drained the last of her glass. "I won't find out how it'll go until I do it." She lifted from her chair, casually floating. "See you later?"

"Later! Hope we both get to see it, together. That'd be nice." She waved until Comforting vanished with the sound of an unclogging drain. "She's so strange." But she said it fondly, and got to finishing her own breakfast.

---

"Hm." Twilight tapped a hoof to her chin. "That is a curious proposition. You understand, their parents gave permission for them to come here, to this school, not to wander the world."

But where there was potential rejection, Comforting saw hope. "But you'd do it if you could?"

Twilight colored faintly. "I'd like to see it myself... As you said, it would be a valuable lesson to appreciate other cultures. But the minotaurs haven't even... joined the school. We don't have a single minotaur student. Taking the others there may make somecreatures upset..."

The struggles of field trips was not a new thing to Comforting. She'd been a teacher before. "So now we give the students permission slips to bring home and get signed. No signature, no going."

"Possible..." Twilight sighed softly. "Not every student has a loving parent, as much as I'd prefer it. Gallus.... for instance... may have difficulty securing that signature."

Comforting felt sure she could get hers. Fluttershy wouldn't stop her from that, right? "I'll help however I can, but he deserves the chance. Not even trying means he loses out for sure. Not very fair to the rest of the class either."

"Yes..." Twilight let out a slow breath. "Yes. Yes, you aren't... Right. Let me put things together, and I'll make an announcement when I'm ready. I hate to lean on your abilities, but if you could help the students get around faster? I know you can do that, and they are your friends, so maybe?"

Twilight, requesting chaotic assistance?! "I thought you'd rather they do it the old-fashioned way."

"I would, but if we plan to get there in time, that is barely an option if we want to see it this year. So... consider this permission. So long as nocreature gets hurt, help them get home and back swiftly."

Comforting saluted sharply. "Yes, Ma'am, Professor Twilight!"

Twilight burst into giggles. "This is hardly a military academy. Go on, I'll make the announcement to the school when I'm ready, promise."

Conmforting was the only student to not be surprised when the news came of an upcoming field trip. All they had to do was go home and get permission first.

She set up a sign. "Free rides to there and back again!" it read with glowing lights that pointed at her. She'd provide that answer. It was hardly a question, just a shortcut. One of those once in a while shouldn't just too bad, she figured..

Besides, she wanted to get to that show that year, and maybe get to see it with Diamond too? That'd be nice...

"Hey." Gallus hiked a thumb at the sign., "Can we do it like last time? It's a lot faster with---" Comforting grabbed his hands and they were in the griffon lands, standing in front of Gampa Gruff's house. "your help...?" He blinked, looking around and taking in where they'd ended up between frames. "Warn a griff before you do that. Uh, thanks though." He headed inside to chat with his grandpa.

Comforting pulled out a tablet to peek at the action.

"Sign this and I'll be out of your way." Gallus put down the paper near the grumpy elder.

"Ain't signing a thing without knowing what it is." Gruff snatched the paper and scanned over it dutifully. "Minotaurs? They barely know their backs from their fronts, and they're shady creatures besides that. Why would I let you go waste your time with them?!"

"So I can learn how dumb they are?" He smirked, perhaps proud of how he had phrased that. "Feels like every creature does a show or a story about how they founded. Perfect spot to learn why I should avoid them."

"Huh... And what's she want from me?" He shook the paper. "What's this cost me?!"

"Nothing, sheesh...." He hiked a thumb outside. "Getting there is Twilight's problem, not yours. She just wants everycreature to know before she does it."

"At least she has that..." He signed, grumbling the whole way. "You're going to be bored to death, but that's your funeral, not mine."

"Thanks." Gallus snatched the paper back and went for the door. "See you later."

Author's Note:

Field trip! Ever have one? What was it like?

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Comments

[Theresa]

I doubt most folks would be bored. History can be quite interesting especially when it presented in new not that usual book learning way. I watch YouTube videos about history stuff and find it interesting. Way more interesting than the books. The books were okay but the videos are more interesting. There is always something new to learn about the past and the present and the future.

[readsponies]

Quick tip: grizzly means gray or gray-flecked. It's how grizzly bears got their name. Grisly is more related to what the bears do. And a lot redder.

[Poparakelis]

encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRlnRwmgohZBc4prmpIAyv-tU9L4leD4PdSXg&usqp=CAU

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

11664798
Comforting sometimes uses order to create chaos.

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

Another fine use of chaos powers in the service of friendship. And done within the rules too!

[Emtu]

Hey, at least Gampa Gruff gives a little bit of a shit.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

It'll be interesting to see some things from the minotaur perspective, they don't seem to get a lot of attention compared to other creatures.

[David Silver]

11667630
Basically a blank slate. We only met one. Are they typical for their species, or divergent?

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

11667749

That's an excellent point. Especially since species with the "we only met one" situation are surprisingly common in canon.

[Alvsecret]

"Duh! I just said I'd like to see it. I wasn't lying. Daddy would pay for me to go, but he wouldn't want me to miss school either. So it school goes, that'd, like, be way better."

If

[Alvsecret]

"Glad to hear that." Helping them go to watch something inappropriate wasn't the idea. "I didn't even know minotaurs had plays, but that sounsd silly, saying it. Of course they do... I wanna see it now." But, alas, she did not go to that foal school. She went to a grown school, with grown ponies.

Sound, went