New Endings, Old Starts

by David Silver

43 - A Run Too Hard

Comforting blinked her eyes open to see the ceiling of the hospital, clean tiles that were nothing like what she'd normally see. "Hm?" She sat up, the motion slowing rapidly as dizziness washed over head. She thumped a hoof down for support on the bed and wobbled a moment before she could finish sitting up, groggy, but upright. "Mmm?"

The door swung open silently, revealing Fluttershy with a concerned look. "Are you alright? I can get you anything."

"Water." Comforting slid more of her body under herself, slowly sitting up. "Please... How... How long?"

"About an hour." Fluttershy hurried in, grabbing a glass to fill up with such refreshing looking water. She pressed it against Comforting until it was securely transferred. "How do you feel?"

"Groggy... but alright." She tipped the glass back. What started as a sip became a swallow, which became a chugging as she drained the glass with steady gulps. "Phew! I was... really thirsty."

"Comforting!" The crusaders were rushing in. Sweetie hopped right up on the bed in front of her with a grin and a floating scroll.

"You forgot this, also don't do that again! I'd rather lose an armwrestling contest than see my friend get knocked out." She tapped at her head. "I did a little reading while we were waiting."

Apple Bloom joined her, three fillies on the bed. "Ah huh. What you did was run out of juice. Ain't not a thing that'll hurt you by itself, but it'll knock you out good."

Scootaloo waved it away. "Unicorn thing. When a pegasus or an earth pony uses their thing too much, they get tired. If they keep going after that... then I guess falling over could happen. That'd be bad for a pegasus." Visions of a plumetting pegasus came to mind. "We'd get way too tired before that happened."

Comforting tried to rise, but was still gathering her wits. "You waited for me, all that time? You're all so nice... You didn't have--"

Sweetie casually filled that mouth, silencing the objection. "This is what friends do. You'd do the same for us without even being told, be honest."

Comforting began to color with the image of it. There would be no way to get rid of her if her friend was in trouble... "Thank you... I really messed up."

Sweetie shook her head vigorously. "Nuh uh! You were doing great, you just went too far. Didn't you feel tired?" She tapped at her head. "Up here, and all around? It had to feel like something. I've gotten tired before."

"I...." It was a moment of awkward realization. She had not been a unicorn from the start. The feelings had escaped her, and she had tried to brush them aside, until she couldn't ignore them anymore and just flopped over. "I'll pay more attention to that. I feel very silly."

Fluttershy grabbed her, hugging her daughter close. "We're all silly once in a while. I'm glad this has no lingering effects, other than you being tired. "You've learned your lesson, yes?"

"Yes." Comforting nestled with Fluttershy, but couldn't resist the blush creeping on her, knowing the CMC were likely watching the affection intently. "Sorry for ruining your day."

Scootaloo scoffed. "You didn't do that."

Apple Bloom giggled, hooves together. "Ain't what happened. Now, you don't do that 'gain, 'cause we like ya, and we don't like ponies we're friends with gettin' hurt."

Sweetie inclined her head towards Apple Bloom. "She carried you here, by the way."

Comforting turned new colors. "That must have been hard!"

"Nah." Apple Bloom got in close enough to be able to poke the hugged unicorn. "You might have magic, but so do I, earth pony magic. I could take it. Wasn't gonna leave ya there on the ground."

Comforting slipped to the ground, her balance recovered enough to approach her young friends. "Thanks for not panicking. That had to be a little scary."

Scootaloo burst into snickers. "Sweetie was the most scared."

"Was not!" Sweetie crossed her arms with a pout. "But I was worried."

"I was the most scared." All eyes turned to Fluttershy. "Um... if that doesn't offend." None of the girls were ready to claim the top spot away from Comforting's mother, waving at her to continue. "Thank you... Please be more careful. What were you doing, anyway?"

Comforting tried to play the magic, but that her horn was tired made itself clear with a dull ache. "Ow, um, I was trying to help Sweetie Belle in a little contest. It was working!"

Scootaloo smirked at that. "You brought her up to even."

Sweetie giggled, hooves at her mouth. "It was fun. I've never been that good at arm wrestling. Thank you for helping, now don't do that again!"

Fluttershy pointed past Comforting to Sweetie. "This reminds me. Sweetie was wondering if you could show her a few tricks."

Comforting lifted an ear. "Me?" But Fluttershy was nodding. She looked to Sweetie instead. "Me? What do you want me to show?"

Sweetie pointed at Comforting's horn. "Show me how to unicorn. You learned how to do it so quickly, so you must have something going on."

Apple Bloom nodded in a rapid bobbing. "Start with grabbin' things. She ain't very good at that."

Sweetie colored at being called out. "I'm working on it! Can you help?"

Comforting crashed to her haunches. "Wow..."

"Feeling better?" There was Nurse Redheart. "I'm glad to see it. If you have your hooves under you, you're free to go. Just take it easy and you'll be fine."

Fluttershy nodded at her fellow adult, but her eyes went back to the foals. "Are you all ready to go?" She got to lead a cloud of excited little ponies free of the hospital, serving as the nucleus for those excited electrons. "It's... late in the day." The sun was already about set, darkness replacing the light of day rapidly. "If you don't feel safe going home...?"

Sweetie cringed even with her smile. "You didn't have a lot of fun the last time you kept an eye on us... Sorry about that..."

"True... but you have matured since then." Fluttershy inclined her head towards Comforting. "And I have more practice watching over young ponies. If you do your best, I'll do the same."

Scootaloo saluted sharply. "Let's go to bed!"

Apple Bloom chuckled softly. "I doubt we'll go straight to bed."

"Of course not." Fluttershy walked slowly towards her cottage. "You haven't had dinner, any of you. We can't let that stand." She got into the house first, heading for the kitchen to get to work. "Have fun while I work. It'll be ready soon."

Sweetie waved Comforting over. "Show me!" She pointed up at her horn. "How do you grab things so proficiently?"

Comforting carefully picked up an abandoned brush, as much to prove to herself that she had regained that much mental strength. Her grip firm enough, she brought it over in front of herself, hovering with a slow bobbing. "Your horn is a part of you. It wants to do what you want to do, just like your legs and snout." She wriggled her nose with a giggle. "So imagine it's like an arm, and reach with it."

Sweetie blinked slowly. "I never thought of it quite like that..."

Comforting felt magic trying to get in where her magic was. Was Sweetie trying to grab the brush? Comforting didn't resist, and the color shifted from her brown to the pale green of Sweetie's magic. "You have it!"

"I..." The brush flopped to the ground, still glowing, but no longer hovering. "Had it..."

"You're still holding it." Comforting set a hoof on Sweetie's shoulder. "I promise. I can see it, your magic. Just pick it up."

"I am?" Sweetie peered at the brush with some skepticism. She couldn't see her glowing horn or the glowing brush. "Alright..." She yanked with her head as if it were a fishing rod, causing the brush to bounce towards her with the motion, a fish caught on that line. "Oh! I guess I am."

"You're doing it! Pick it up." Comforting clapped in happy encouragement. "You're holding it, promise."

Apple Bloom laughed in an open display. "Wow... never saw a unicorn learn this before. It's kinda interestin'." She sank to her belly, watching the two.

Scootaloo was less certain by far. "Why can you see what she's doing better than she can, when you couldn't even tell when you were getting tired?"

Comforting darkened in a slow but wide spread. "I can see magic... That doesn't always tell me what I'm seeing, or feeling. I never got that tired before... I'll know next time."

Sweetie squeaked in obvious surprise. "You can see magic? What's it look like?!"

"A sparkling field." Comforting reached to put a hoof just beyond Sweetie's glowing grip. "Yours is pale green, sort of like your eyes."

"Then yours has to be brown." Sweetie's attention slid off the brush, which stopped glowing, and instead was staring at Comforting's hazel eyes. "Right?"

"Yep!" Comforting pointed back at the brush. "But you lost your grip. Don't get distracted by me."

"Oops!" Sweetie reached out a hoof, but her magic returned, horn and brush glowing. She slowly raised her arm, bidding the brush to rise with it slowly until it was hovering in front of her face. "Like... that?"

"Oh, that's so good," gushed Comforting, almost vibrating with joy. "You've practiced this before, haven't you?"

"I have... I'm just not that good at it." Sweetie's head movements were echoed by the brush, as if the two were connected by a stiff rod. "Can you help?"

"You won't like the first bit of advice I have." Comforting gently nudged Sweetie's magic aside, replacing it with her own. "Practice! Anything you want to be good at, anything at all, you have to practice." She began brushing Sweetie's mane, which was perhaps more fun than it had any right to be. "You have the first step down, good, but only practice will get you much farther."

Apple Bloom nodded sagely. "She's right. Applejack showed me how to buck a tree, but I had to do it, like, a bajillion times before I was any good at it, which meant messin' up at least half a bajillion times. Ain't no way to get good at somethin' without being awful at somethin'."

Scootaloo pointed out to where her scooter rested. "Do you think I was born good at it? I make it look like it." Her brows wagged. "But I wasn't... It took practice. Any of you could get good at a scooter, if you wanted to, and practiced long enough." She suddenly grinned. "Want me to show you?!"

Sweetie held up both her forehooves. "Pass. I'll let you keep looking good on it. C'mon, there has to be some shortcut. You learned so quickly."

"Because I wanted to learn." Comforting was still brushing Sweetie gently. Sweetie had very brushable hair, Comforting decided silently. "So I did it, every day, all the time."

"It's true," came Fluttershy's voice from the kitchen. "Even when she was doing other things, she was busy using her horn; it was an obsession."

Comforting squeaked at that word. "It was not... alright, a little." She held two hooves close together. "You don't have to be that into it, but if you practice every day, you'll get better!" She reached out, tapping at the brush in her control. "Next step is to not have it be 'attached' to you. Your horn is flexible, more like your tail. Whip the brush around like you're shaking your tail and get used to controlling things."

Sweetie's giggles were legendary. "Like my tail?!" She tried to grab the brush and Comforting let her, color shifting around it back to pale green. "Whip your tail..." She lashed her head and the brush followed.

"Without your head. Move it, but not your head." Comforting poked at her own skull. "You can do it. Like moving your arm without your head."

Author's Note:

Comforting is tricked! She's stressing less about her own manic growth by tending to the growth of Sweetie Belle. Everypony wins!

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Comments

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

I think that Comforting is a very good teacher.

[Chrome Masquerade]

Apple Bloom laughed in an open display. "Wow... never saw a unicorn learn this before. It's kinda interestin'." She sank to her belly, watching the two.

static.manebooru.art/img/2020/10/19/781325/full.jpg

[Alvsecret]

"Water." Comcforting(Comforting) slid more of her body under herself, slowly sitting up. "Please... How... How long?"

[David Silver]

11280640
Uncomfortable typo removed.

[chibilink]

"Water." Comcforting slid more of her body under herself, slowly sitting up. "Please... How... How long?"

The spelling error got placed there by Sweetie practicing magic.

[David Silver]

11774569
How the dominos tumble.

[Luckyfanisaac]

Visions of a plumetting pegasus came to mind.

9:38

Sweetie pointed at Comforting's horn. "Show me how to unicorn. You learned how to do it so quickly, so you must have something going on."

I couldn’t not read that and not think of this.
1:35

"Whip your tail..." She lashed her head and the brush followed.

0:20