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// 12 - Chaotic Stars 
// Story: Amber Starts, Comforting Endings 
// by David Silver 
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"Are you sure you don't want to come back?" Comforting was gazing up at the starry sky. "Things have gotten way more interesting. There's so much trouble I bet you could cause." The stars gently twinkled in return, not speaking a single word in reply. "Yeah, I figured. I'm fine though. Don't worry about me." She flipped over onto her back. "It's just been something I've thought about from time to time. Mostly because I miss you."

She reached  up towards those distant twinkling objects. If she wanted, she could actually hold one, but she resisted that. She had already tried that once before with, at best, mixed results. Grabbing a sun without keeping things vague did bad things to the poor sun. She giggled at the memories of her past mistake. It had been quite a spectacular show, looking back on it. Very chaotic, but not the good kind of chaotic.

The hatch leading to a ladder popped open, glowing with a unicorn's magic. Amber climbed up until her head poked free. "There you are! You weren't in your room, or anywhere else that I could find. What are you doing up here?" She climbed further until she could wave a hoof over the rooftop in general.

Comforting gestured at the moon. "I was just talking to the moon and the stars. No worries." She stood up facing Amber. "I haven't jumped into a pony's body and messed with things, have I?"

Amber blinked at that sudden question. "N-no? That sounds like a bad thing. Is it a bad thing? I trust you, should I be trusting that?"

"Oh no." Comforting trotted over to comfort Amber. "It's only bad when somepony gets hurt, or the pony isn't willing, or it's something they can't come back from. But if it's something that doesn't affect them in a permanent way, and they consent, and are expecting it, it's all fine." She went in for a gentle hug. "That's why I'm asking." She gently lifted Amber off the ladder she had been on, placing her to join her on the roof properly.

Amber adjusted her glasses a moment. "Being actually inside somepony sounds very--" She rolled a hoof, struggling for the word. "--personal, and maybe painful? I've seen you do things, so maybe it wouldn't be painful? What brings this up?"

"I was asked something that made me wonder. Nothing happened. Yet." Comforting giggled into hoofed palms. "Oh boy, someday we're gonna have so much to talk about." She shifted, looking a little more serious. "But for now, we just have each other." She opened her arms up. "And that's plenty good, isn't it?"

Amber smiled brightly, wrapping Comforting up in a big hug. The two enjoyed one another's warm against the chilly breeze of the night. "I'm just wondering why you're up here. You could be someplace far warmer." She nuzzled warmly against the plush fur her friend provided. "Am I overwhelming you?"

"No." Comforting shook her head. "Well, you are, but it's not a bad thing." She curled around Amber, basking in that contact. "I just came up here to think and enjoy the weather. I'm all done with both, so I was about to go back in. You know, where it's warm."

"Sounds good to me." Amber leaned into Comforting. "Before that, though, what did you think of while you were up here?"

Comforting considered how much of that would be safe to share. In the context of the world, it was largely out of any scope. She may as well ramble about the small dogs on the moon. "My father was a great spirit of chaos, better than me by a few steps."

"Was?" Amber inclined her head slowly. "Did something happen to him?"

"Nothing like what you're thinking." Comforting tapped Amber on the nose and went in for new nuzzles. "He just wandered off to find new places to be chaotic. He had a dear, dear friend, and when she passed, he just couldn't hold himself to the ground, so off he went to find a new ground."

Amber sighed. "That's kind of sad."

Comforting shook her head. "No. He didn't like being tied down. And she was the main reason he allowed it, lovingly and willingly. For her, he was ready to be tied down forever. But she wasn't forever." Comforting considered Amber. "Neither are you, or any of the other dear friends I've lost."

Amber sank back as that reality finally landed on her. "I'm mortal," she breathed with a mixture of wonder and trepidation. "That's going to happen." She took a deep breath to calm down, looking into the distant distance. "That's weird."

Comforting rubbed her chin. "Would you rather die today than live for many years? I mean, that would be pretty chaotic."

"No." Amber thwapped Comforting. "Stop that. I don't want to think about it, at least, not that."

"Too late." Comforting cuddles around her dear friend. "But it works the other way around, for me. I'd rather have you for now, than lose you right away, so I'm staying. It's as simple as that. Having you, right now, is worth later pain." She released Amber, standing as tall as she could, which was pretty tall. "But I feel like I'm just encouraging you to be chilly right now."

"Oh, you." Amber nudged Comforting gently, but then slipped into her embrace with a happy sound. "You are something else. Thank you." She rubbed her cheek against Comforting, the pair of them lingering there a moment. "Not chilly anymore," she mumbled into Comforting's warm furry coat.

"At least I come with a built in solution." She casually turned up her internal heat, cuddling Amber and keeping that chill away. "There's a lot out there." She waved an arm up at the sky. "Too much for any one pony, really. Let's worry about what's right here."

Amber nodded. "Yeah. I can do that." She nodded up at the sky. "Are all the stars your dad's kids?"

"Hah, no." Comforting shook her head slowly. "I don't think--" She squinted at the stars as if they'd give an answer any moment, but none of them spoke. "I don't think so. None of them are him either, I don't think. But he is out there all the same. I hope he's happy, wherever and whatever he happens to be right now. My wishes are with him, for what that matters."

She leaned in to nuzzle Amber once more. "But, yeah. The stars are born, they burn, they go out. They're still stars. Just like ponies, just like everything. It's a big cycle, but it's not really that different from what happens when I'm around. And, hey, they have you too, at least for a bit."

Amber smiled brightly. She hopped in a start of a walk towards the ladder. "Come on. Let's head inside. Looking at those stars is sending your thoughts out of orbit, and I think you need to be more here and now and less way up there."

"I think you may be right." Comforting swooped over Amber, grabbing her on the way. She threw herself past the hatch, which closed without her touching it the moment she was past it. She put Amber down once they were safely inside, releasing the startled unicorn. "Inside. Now, today's been a busy day. Shouldn't you be catching some sleep about now?"

"Shouldn't you?" countered Amber, sticking her tongue out playfully. "It's only late if you're tired, and I'm wide awake."

"Right." Comforting considered a moment. "Sleep is optional for me. I do it mostly because it's a comfortable way to pass time when everyone else is sleeping. With the Internet back to being a blissful thing, it got even more optional, for me." She leveled an accusing finger. "But you're not a chaos spirit. I don't want you getting worn out and miserable."

"Fine." Amber grumbled a bit but started making her way towards her bedroom. "But when I get back from a nap, I want you ready to listen to me and tell me why you were being so cryptic about magic earlier. No more evasions, especially not for my sake."

"Oh." Comforting felt a momentary pang of guilt at that. "Well, to be honest, I didn't expect you to catch on so fast. And I'm not trying to be evasive. We can't get to actual spells until you finish getting the basics locked in. The alphabet forms the good stuff. You're doing good, I promise. We'll get to the magic soon."

Amber stared at Comforting blankly. "You lost me halfway there. Maybe a little before that. So what does that mean for my questions about magic?"

"We'll be covering it all soon enough, promise." Comforting smooched the end of Amber's horn. "So eager, I love it. But you have to finish learning the alphabet before you go reading a book. Yes, even Z. What if they bring up zebras and you'll feel silly, won't you?"

Amber started. "That would be awkward. Ugh, but fine. Sleep time for me. Since you aren't sleeping, keep an eye on things?"

"You didn't have to ask that." Comforting gently nudged Amber towards her room. "Go on. I have things under control for the moment."

"Thank you." Amber wandered off, her voice trailing. "Gonna have so many questions for you. Starting with your name. Comforting sounds so nice, but it's not you, is it?" She closed the door, cutting off any possible response.

Comforting just shrugged at that. "I think it's a nice name." The one before it was so far in the past, it was another world entirely. Its relevance to her felt not even minimal at that point. She was Comforting Shade. "And that's a nice thing to be." She hugged herself before flying and flowing to one of the computers. "Let's see what ponies are chatting about tonight."

***

The foals giggled and gasped with alternating awe and wonder. They gazed on Comforting as she turned and flexed, sometimes in ways a pony couldn't hope to replicate. It was all amazingly confusing and just amazing. They clapped at the demonstration though, showing no fear of the strange creature before them.

Comforting bowed low before them. "I saw, online, that you all were wondering about me. I figured I should come out of the library and give you--" She cut off, a colt dangling from her left arm. "--a chance?" She lifted the arm, and the colt, closer, just to have a filly on her right arm. "When did you get--" The rest of the foals joined in, tackling and climbing her tall form like the fuzzy and scaley mountain it was.

Comforting melted to the floor, sinking in slowly as the pile of foals clung to her. She remained on her knees, allowing them to cling and hug her. "You little monkeys. Where did you learn to climb so well? I was just trying to be friendly."

A colt got in close, face to face with Comforting. "That is all just so cool!" The others cried in agreement. "What's your name again?"

"Comforting Shade. Comforting, or even Comfort or Comfs also works." She casually shook off the foals, sending them to the ground unharmed. "It's nice to meet you all. I'm not a pony, as you likely noticed."

Another filly walked around her, peering with wonder. "How did you get all those parts?"

Comforting flicked an ear. "They came in handy, so I kept them." She giggled to herself at the joke. "Actually, they were a gift from my dad. I bet your dad helped give you your parts too, come to think."

Some of the foals seemed to catch onto that. Others didn't. This prompted conversations between them. This distraction left Comforting free to stand, adjusting her fluff and ruffling her wings. "Any other questions?"

One of the bolder fillies raised her hoof. "What are you?"

"I am a chaos spirit." Comforting clapped her hands, causing the little foals to be standing with her in the middle of nowhere, floating on an island in a sea of chaos, before they weren't just as quickly. "A nice chaos spirit."

The foals took that in. "That's so cool." They scampered around her, tugging on her tail and testing her mismatched legs.

"Do you have any real magic?" A colt stared her down, grinning. "If you're just some weird pony with weird parts, then you're not that special."

Comforting tolerated the pulls and explorations, smiling at the eager energy of the little ones. "I just showed you one. I can do whatever I want, but, sorry, I try to be responsible, so no asking for a mountain of ice cream. I tried that once, it didn't end well." She snorted with laughter. "I know you have lots more, but how about we just spend this time enjoying each other's company?"

She allowed herself to be dragged into a game of tag, darting and swerving between the foals, the entire group playing. Her self-given goal had been completed, introducing herself to more ponies and becoming a little less 'that strange mystery that hides in the library.'