New Endings, Old Starts

by David Silver

98 - Promises Kept

"Did you call me?" Sunset asked over the phone. "Sorry I missed it, everything alright?"

"I'm fine." Comforting tossed the phone from one hand to another. "In fact, just dropping off some promised goodies to a new friend, then I'll be back."

"Aw, that's nice to hear. I was worried you weren't making a lot of friends outside of me."

Comforting wrinkled her nose, skipping towards the creepy house. "I love making a friend. See you when I get back!" She slid the phone away and grabbed the doorknob with her bandaged hand. "We're back!" She said we, but it was just her and a bag from the local fast-food joint. The others were in the car. She pressed inside, lost to sight.

"Is this... proper?" Silver's driver was looking at her through the rearview mirror. "Sending a little child into a building like that."

"Right?" Silver laughed at the ludicrousness of the situation. "Trust me, like, she knows what she's doing, and she'll be fine."

Comforting closed the door behind her, pausing only to get the flashlight of her phone turned on. "Cracked! It's me!" She jumped at a thud. The click that followed was, strangely, relieving. She knew that combination. "Coming!" She bolted up the stairs with the sudden speed of a child. "I got lunch!"

She zipped out onto the landing, just to be grabbed from the side. Furry arms ending in smooth human hands took firm hold of her, lifting her up under the arms. "You came back. I didn't think you would." Cracked sniffed gently at the air. "That smells... different, but good." She set Comforting back to the ground. "Is it what you promised?"

"It is." Comforting set the bag down and hopped back. "Enjoy!"

Cracked tore the bag to pieces, sending fries scattering and burgers, still in their wrappers, spilling out with them. "What?" She leaned in, snuffing curiously. "Salt. I like that." She took one of the lost fries. "This doesn't smell like meat... Salt." She licked it twice. "Mmm, good salt." She put the fry aside. "But not meat." One did need salt to live. She didn't begrudge the salty starter. "Meat... Now we're talking." She grabbed one of the burgers and looked ready to chomp into it, foil and all.

"Stop!" Comforting made wild gestures. "Unwrap it first, then eat up."

"Unwrap?" She felt along it for where the foil could come up and soon she held a burger, liberated. Her eyes went wide. "Wow! You cook. You wrap to keep fresh. You do so much. Such decadence." She chomped into the sandwich, but her expression turned to one of confusion. Still, she forced herself to chew at it with teeth that became far too sharp the moment she focused on eating, tearing the food to small chunks with the skill of a carnivore and gulping it down on the way. "What a strange meal... I can taste meat, but a lot of not meat there."

Comforting clapped her hands in a joyful expression as the eating began. "A lot of modern human food has meat and not-meat together. They're omnivores and a meal with only one or the other doesn't satisfy most of them." She pointed to the burger. "Beef, that's cow, cheese, a kind of milk, tomatoes, lettuce, grilled onions and some bacon crumbles and stuff. Mmmm."

"Mmm," agreed Cracked, sinking to a squat as she took another big bite out of her burger. "Mmm... New, but good new. I would never have bothered with most of those things, but with the meat, it has a certain... appeal, yes." She squinted at Comforting. "You were a pony. You're alright with this?"

Comforting shrugged. "I was a human first. Watching someone enjoy a burger just makes me smile. I'm glad you're liking it."

"Strange pony." She reached a slightly greasy hand to ruffle Comforting's head. "A good strange." It was a fine day for strange, but good, things. "Still, aren't you hungry? I'd get hungry, watching something eat..." Not that this slowed her devouring of the first burger, reduced to nothing but foil. As if to check, she tried nipping the foil. "Uck." She tossed that aside, deeming it inedible.

Comforting grabbed the discarded foil and tucked it in the abused bag it had all started in. "The fries are cooked potatoes. They're good. Try them before you toss them."

"Cooked potatoes?" Cracked raised a doubting brow. "... Mmm... Since you're suggesting it. I'm trusting you here." She took one of them, glistening with salt. "Very salty." Still, she promised. She popped it into her mouth and gnashed it up, which unleashed its flavor profile across her tongue. "Ooo.... Different... But good. I've said that a lot today." She she ate a few fries. "We should get to the point." Her tail lifted a little, her spirits turning around with the food.

"The point?" Comforting pressed a few buttons on her phone, messaging those outside that all had gone well. "Which point?"

"My point?" She hiked a thumb at herself. "The human world's... not all bad... But they aren't me. The pony world, the ponies aren't me either. Where do I live now?"

Comforting considered that. "I know what you look like, here, in the human world." She spread her hands to either side, just to get her injured hand grabbed. "It's alright now."

"What did they do?" Cracked turned the hand around slowly, studying it.

"They bandaged it up so I'd get better." She gently retrieved her hand. "What do you look like, back in the 'pony world'?"

"I was a terrible beast, part pony, mostly predator." She curled her fingers into wicked claws. "Hmm... Imagine the human parts were pony parts. The predator parts, mostly unchanged."

Comforting tried to do that. The head of a pony leading into the body of a wolf. Pony fore hooves, wolf everything else. Pony voice? "You could talk?"

"Always could," admitted Cracked with a shrug. "Got an idea?"

"I can imagine that..." A curious beast... But... "I think they'd learn to like you, if you didn't hunt the ponies anymore."

"You are too nice." She poked Comforting gently in the center of her chest. "But a nice that means you'll bring me food is a nice I kinda like. Half pony, half their nightmare. You really think they want this around?"

"No," said Comforting quite flatly. "But they'll get used to it. The humans probably won't get used to it. Maybe the girls, they know you, but the rest of them... probably not. I'll be your in." She hiked a thumb at herself. "If I say you're good, which I think you are, then they'll give you a chance."

"Are you a leader of the ponies?" Cracked cocked a brow at that. "You're a little small for that. The ponies respect size in their leaders."

Comforting thought of Celestia, towering over all. "They really do... But they know I'm a source of good and nice things. They'll give you a chance." She flashed a sudden grin. "Also, when we're there, I will be an even more terrifying monster than you."

That caught Cracked by surprise. "What? You're a foal. What are you threatening me with, crying at me?"

Comforting twirled in place. "This is probably hard to imagine, but back in pony world, I'm a spirit, a chaos spirit. I can do... whatever I want. I was sent here to just... be... without the cheat codes for a little."

"You were banished too? That's awful." Cracked folded her arms, fur bristled. "Been there."

"It was voluntary, promise." Comforting grabbed a burger and offered it up, at least until it was grabbed. "But when I go back, I'll be that again. So I will protect you. You just have to be good. They have meat, especially fish. You like fish?"

"Fish's alright." Cracked chomped into her new burger. "Depends on which... Pony's even better... but that's not an option."

"It's not," flatly agreed Comforting. "The ponies will be your friend, not lunch."

"It'll take some getting used to," She bit the burger in half, nomming joyfully. "But it sounds worth it... if we can keep being friends."

Comforting clapped her hands with a big smile. "You have no idea how happy you just made me." She had won over a terrifying friend. "Alright. Until I go back, I'll keep you fed. How often would you want one of those?" She pointed to the bag she was holding.

Cracked nudged at the remaining burgers. "One a day's good. Where do you... suggest I get a drink? Even monsters like a sip once in a while."

"Oh!" Comforting clapped her cheeks. "Sorry! Let's see if this works." She hurried off to the bathroom and struggled with the knob on the faucet. "Just... turn..." She was trying as hard as she could, but it wasn't moving.

Cracked lowered her hand over Comforting's, grabbing her smaller hand and the faucet at once. With a twist, she demanded it turn, and the faucet had no choice but to obey with a squeal of metal on metal. The water spurted out, dirty at first, but became cleaner by the moment as it flowed.

"Oh!" She leaned in and lapped at the water like a dog, as curious as that looked with a human face. "Perfect..."

Comforting reached out into the air and pantomimed turning it the other way. "That's how you turn it back off when you're done. Don't turn it too far though."

Cracked turned it back until it hit resistance, the water stopping. "I learned something new today." Her tail was wagging with happiness. "Thank you, friend Comforting. I must seem like a big fool, not knowing these things. I can tell you already know all this."

Comforting shrugged with a smile. "We're all new once. Someone had to show me how it's done." She couldn't quite remember that instant, but she knew it was there, her parents showing her how to operate such things. "You listened and you did it on the first try. That's a good mark."

"Stop sounding like a parent." Cracked rose to her considerable height, chomping a burger as she thumpclicked away. "You really want to drag me back to pony world, after Starswirl went through all that effort kicking me out?"

"I'm not asking him." Comforting trailed behind Cracked, watching her tail, wagging eagerly as it was. "You're happy."

"I am," Cracked admitted, coiling in place to look at Comforting. "What makes you ask that?"

"I wasn't asking." Comforting swatted gently at Cracked's tail.

Cracked yelped, jumping away. "Hey! No touching tails." She snorted as she turned to face Comforting. "Touching a tail means you want to fight, or you want to fight. That can be fun, or dangerous, and a little kid like you? I doubt you want either."

Comforting quickly decided she'd had enough pain in a day. "Alright, no touching." She moved her hands behind her back, well away from fluffy tails. "You have a nice one. I have a nice one too, in the pony world. You can rate it when you see it."

She waved Comforting away. "Stop that! Do ponies compliment each other tails now?"

"If they like them." Comforting shrugged. "It's nice to talk to you when you're not sad, or hungry, or mad. You're nice to be around when you're happy. I think most people are like that." She pointed to the remaining burgers. "I'll be back, promise. Silver's waiting for me outside."

"Yeah..." Cracked let Comforting skip away. "I actually believe you this time," she said to nobody there. "You will be back..." She grabbed the second to last burger and got to devouring it. "With more food, I hope."

Comforting dashed out to the waiting car, holding a mostly empty bag and little else. "All done!" She slid in next to Silver and Diamond. "She likes 'em both. Diamond, you were right."

Diamond puffed up with pride. "Even a strange monster'll like fries!"

Silver's driver took them all home, ending that day of excitement.

Author's Note:

A charming end of that arc, I think, and a potential new buddy!

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Comments

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

Comforting closed the door behind her, pausing only to get the flashlight of her phone turned on. "Cracked! It's me!" She jumped at a thud. The click that followed was, strangely, releiving. She knew that combination. "Coming!" She bolted up the stairs with the sudden speed of a child. "I got lunch!"

Should be

strangely, relieving. She

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

"Unwrap?" She felt along it for where the foil could come up and soon she held a burger, liberated. Her eyes went wide. "Wow! You cook. You wrap to keep fresh. You do so much. Such decedance..." She chomped into the sandwhich, but her expresison turned to one of confusion. Still, she forced herself to chew at it with teeth that became far too sharp the mometn she focued on eating, tearing the food to small chunks with the skill of a carnivore and gulping it down on the way. "What a strange meal... I can taste meat, but a lot of not meat there."

Should be
Such decadence..."

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

Comforting has strengthened her friendship with Cracked. She is good at that.

It might take awhile for most ponies to get used to Cracked. Her mom, Fluttershy, will probably actually be among the first to accept Cracked.

Things have settled down. I still am imagining the rest of the class' reaction (especially the CMC) to the story of Cracked and the "haunted house".

[David Silver]

11498374
Fixed with others lurking in the dark house.

[Emtu]

I bet she'd like McDonald's fries better, they're made with beef flavoring.

[uis]

"It's not," flatly agreed Comforting. "The ponies will be your friend, not lunch."

Good line.

[Luckyfanisaac]

You do so much. Such decadence.(——"