5 - Welcome Home
Comforting walked home, though it was more like a spirited trot, which was more of an equine jog than a walk. Still, she felt energetic and good!
"You're not going to our school?" There was Diamond Tiara and her friend. "Aren't you a little small for the friendship college?"
Comforting slowed to a halt, considering how to explain what had happened. "Fluttershy is friends with Twilight."
Nepotism was a force the fillies understood, both giving an 'oh' as if that put it all into focus. Silver Spoon advanced on Comforting. "Lucky! I hear they give way more interesting classes over there."
"I like it so far." Comforting considered the upperclass filly. "If you want to go, why don't you go?"
Silver Spoon poked at Diamond. "She's, like, not off. Why don't we go?"
Diamond frowned at that. "We've tried before, remember? We 'already have a school.'" She made quotes in the air with each word of the smaller phrase. "Twilight sent us packing, remember?"
"Oh yeah..." Silver deflated at that. "If only our parents were good friends with Twilight. Lucky!" She threw a leg over Comforting, happy for her.
Diamond huffed softly. "Don't get a big head over it."
"I'm not," hurriedly assured Comforting. "Want me to put in a good word?"
"Would you?" Silver leaned in with a big grin.
Diamond rolled her eyes. "You're free to try, but I'm not getting my hopes up. C'mon, Silver, we got dumb homework to do."
The two fillies walked off, Silver waving goodbye at Comforting along the way.
Comforting pressed on towards her home, thinking about the fillies and their situation. Surely there was a way to reasonably make everyone involved happy. But how?
There were animals on Fluttershy's lawn. This was not unusual. Even if it was kind of odd, but neat, to have a deer just alright with her being there. Comforting dared to walk up to it and it didn't run away. "Hello there."
The deer leaned in, snuffling at her quietly. "Aw, you're so cute..." She squeaked, laughing when the deer licked her right across the face. "I love it." Having an animal friend for a caretaker came with perks! Comforting trotted on towards the house, her good mood thoroughly restored.
"Welcome home!" The door swung open a moment before Comforting reached it. "How was your first day?"
Comforting sat and offered her hooves up to Fluttershy. "Hello, Mom! It was good, real good."
Fluttershy hesitated a moment. She wasn't really that filly's mom, but... She decided not to fight it at that moment, instead accepting the filly's offer with a gentle hug, cradling the little pony. "You looked a little stressed when I saw you. Are you sure?"
"It was exciting." Comforting nestled against the big warm presence of her caretaker. "And I was a little lost, but I made some good friends and learned things." She peeked out from the floof Fluttershy provided. "How's Angel doing? Does he feel better?"
Fluttershy picked up Comforting, setting the filly on her back as she headed into the house. "He's much better now. Poor thing's belly calmed down after a good day of rest." Inside, the named rabbit was perched on the edge of the couch, watching them. "Oh, there he is." Fluttershy approached with a gentle smile. "Now, I want you two to be friends, please."
Comforting extended a hoof towards the mildly pouty rabbit. "Hello, Angel Bunny. You know, I think rabbits are very cute."
"Aren't they?" asked Fluttershy, agreeing indirectly. "Who's a cute bunny." She grabbed up Angel despite his squeaks and snuggled the bunny into submission. "Aw, so cute, yes you are. Yes you are!"
Comforting giggled from atop Fluttershy. "It's nice that you two are such good friends."
"We really are." She set Angel down carefully. "He watches out for me, and I watch out for him. We're a team."
Angel thumped down his right leg in a series of rapid taps, pointing at Comforting. He shook his head firmly.
"Are you saying I'm not part of the team?" Comforting hummed softly. "You're not wrong."
Fluttershy turned an ear back at her rider. "That's a curious thing to say." Rare would be the foal that would ever just... say that... "What makes you say that?"
"I'm not helping." Comforting crossed her arms, one hoof bobbing. "I'm just taking. Thank you, for keeping me safe, but I'm not doing enough to pay that back." She hopped down from Fluttershy. "I'd like to be part of the team."
Fluttershy watched Comforting wander in search of things to do. "You really don't have to worry. You're just a foal."
"One, not... entirely true." Her adult mind refused to accept just being a layabout. "But two, I'm your foal." she directed a hoof at Fluttershy pointedly. "And asking your kid to help you isn't that weird."
Fluttershy sat with an arm crossed under her chin. "Hm. Well, let's see... There's Sweetie Belle. She... likes helping, but Rarity doesn't always have room for that kind of help, but they're sisters... Then, hm... There's Apple Bloom, she definitely helps out around the farm."
"See?!" Comforting bounced up and down excitedly. "This is a perk of being a parent. You have a willing minion, right here." She pointed at herself with a curled hoof. "Give me a command and I'll do my best. Kids like being helpful to their parents, at least the good ones. You're good to me, let me return the favor."
"Well... Before we get into that, I want to hear more about your day. Did you find all your classes?" Fluttershy smiled gently, relaxing with less uncertain topics. "Did anycreature pick on you?"
"Nope." Comforting curled, reaching a hoof into her pocket and digging out a book. "Twilight gave me this, and showed me how to start using my horn."
Fluttershy brought her hooves together. "Oh, how wonderful! You opened the door before, didn't you?"
"I did..." Comforting started to color. "But I didn't know how, and when I tried to do it again, I messed up. Twilight's showing me how to know how to do it... so I can forget it again."
Fluttershy giggled at that. "Like learning to fly."
"Exactly." Comforting bobbed her head. "Exactly like that. But I have no wings, so no flying for me." She pouted, but only for a moment, her mood fairly good. "I can't wait to read this." She hugged the book dearly.
"Well, I wouldn't want to stop you." Fluttershy waved past her. "Go ahead."
"Nope." Comforting set the book down on the coffee table. "First, chores. Then, homework. I wasn't so good at either the first time."
"First time?" Fluttershy raised a brow at her curious foal.
"Um!" She had forgotten Fluttershy didn't know the specifics. "Never mind. I just mean I want to be a good foal. And good foals get their chores done and hop on their homework. So what are my chores?"
And it was so that Comforting was given specific things to keep clean, and even a few animals to tend. She enjoyed pouring out food for the little mice that scurried out to partake and even seemed willing to thank her in their wordless way. They would wave and chitter. The meaning seemed clear enough. She was giving them what they wanted, and they were grateful.
When the last thing was dusted and cleaned and all the animals seemed satisfied, Comforting patted her hooves against one another as if dusting them off. "And now, homework!"
"You are very excited for homework." Fluttershy smiled a bit unsurely. "Most foals are not that excited for homework."
"Most homework isn't about learning how to do magic." Comforting giggled as she scurried away, book on her back. "Which is the best kind of homework!"
Comforting crashed onto her bed, throwing the book down in front of herself. Her legs kicked as she began reading eagerly, absorbing the words. Some of it was a bit dry, going into the nitty gritties of how a unicorn horn worked, which was alright by her. She was curious! "Oh..." And she was learning.
Knowing brought other powers with it. She understood what she was actually doing up there. She could imagine it more clearly. "This mech has its own controls," she almost sang out, reflecting on the earlier lessons. "Let's try..." She fixed the door of her room as she dropped the mental-Comforting down in her place. "Power on." She knew what the tingling was, magic rushing up, filling her horn with the potential to warp the aetheric field around her, just waiting for a prompt on what to do. "Power activated."
A glance showed it was still sputtering and weak. "Only exercise will get the engine running at full speed..." Just like any other muscle, really. If somebody wanted to get good at something, they had to practice it, a lot. But unicorns managed that, even the ones that didn't care about magic, so it couldn't be that hard, right? In theory...
"Now to aim." Instead of trying to influence and reach at once, the grappling hook shot, she focused on just getting her magic over there. She was painting a dot, yeah, like a laser pointer before someone took a shot. She directed her horn-mecha forward and the knob began to glow with the same sputtering aura, her influence on it, doing nothing but being there. "Yes!" she called joyfully despite how small that achievement had been. It had been hers! She did that! She was doing magic!
"Is everything alright in there?" Fluttershy was on the other side of the door. "Just, um, making sure."
"I'm fine, mom." She giggled, imagining the worried Fluttershy. "Really, just practicing. Sorry!"
"So long as you're alright." Hoof steps receded in hint enough that Fluttershy was leaving.
Comforting refocused on her magic, getting that sputtering field steady on the knob. "And now..." She inclined her head slowly, imagining her magic turning with it. But the knob didn't turn.
She released the magic and went back to the book. She hadn't finished. It'd already helped her. Surely there was more waiting to be found that'd give her a better grip on the situation, literally. Besides, she had made progress! She had made something glow because she wanted it to glow. That had to count!
Bit by bit. She was a foal, she reminded herself. Growing didn't happen right away. And what was the rush? Do it right.
Fluttershy perked at a light knocking, lighter than usual. "Yes?"
The door swung open, glowing with Twilight's magic as she peered around. "Good, she isn't here. I wanted to talk to you, Fluttershy."
"Who isn't here?" Fluttershy came closer to the opened door. "Is everything alright?"
"Arguably better than alright." Twilight clapped her hooves together with a grin. "But I have questions, so many of them... Did Celestia tell you anything about your ward?"
"Not really... Just that I should take care of them. They didn't get into trouble, did they?"
"No! No... She was a model student." Twilight lifted an ear. "And if she wasn't, I'd direct her to Starlight, who might have reached out to you. You know how that works."
"True." Fluttershy tapped at her chin. "That is how we usually do it. So how can I help?"
"Comforting is a very curious little filly. The only filly besides, well, me, that I know of that asked to read Your Horn and You instead of having it thrust on them by well-meaning parents." She looked a bit distant. "Not that there's anything wrong with it, a fine book. Still, it's a bit... dense for many foals to appreciate without the help of their parent." She pricked up. "Oh, did she ask you for help with it?"
"I'm not sure how I could help. I'm not a unicorn." Fluttershy pointed to her complete lack of a horn. "But she sounds like she's making progress, I think?"
"Hm, only more interesting... Alright. I'll talk to her later, at school. Thank you, Fluttershy."
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11135629
I'm hoping that someone would get those references.
11136108
I have actually seen more Voltron episodes, albeit quite some time ago, than I have Power Rangers. (That is the only other use of a combining mecha that I have seen.)
11135465
Don't believe in yourself, believe in the me that believes in you!
Glowing doorknobs for the win.
Hopefully Comforting does get a change to put a good word in for Diamond and Silver. :)
It's great to see Comforting and Fluttershy's relationship expanded upon. My favorite part was when Comforting told her "you have a willing minion right here," that's some real loyalty right there. :)
11136211
I've seen a lot of mecha based... series. Among which are, in no particular order...
Anime - SSSS Gridman (and by extension, Superhero Samurai Syber Squad)
Anime - Knight's and Magic
Anime - Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and SD
Movie - Starbirds (Side note: This one had my All-Time favourite mecha - Dynamo)
... Yes - Zoids
Anime - Mazinger Z/Tranzor Z
Game - Virtual ON
Game - Battle Clash and Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge
Games - Super Robot Wars 3, 4, J, OG and OG2
Game - Pacific Rim - yes, I played the mobile game, but never got the chance to see the movie.
Anime - Vehicle Force Voltron/Lion Force Voltron/Voltron Force
Anime - Gurren Lagann
If i thought about it, I could probably go on.
11136516
That’s an awful lot of mecha.
11136589
Like I said, though, If i thought about it I could go on.
Side note: I think MechWarrior (And Battletech, by extension) applies too?
That brings a different pair...
Nice save there, C.S.
Though, you might need to watch what you say a scosche more carefully in the future.
True enough; It's said that it takes about 10,000 hours of practice to fully master a skill.
they would not get tricked by cozy's shitty plan if they're this cautious.
11136516
There's also the Battletech universe, which is arguably one of the more well known mech series with books, games, and a table top rpg
Not bad, I like it