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// 14 - Do You Believe in Magic? 
// Story: Amber Starts, Comforting Endings 
// by David Silver 
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"Sorry for such short notice." Misty was trembling and distraught. "But I have to go, now. I won't be back for, um, I don't know."

Amber cut off her speedy retreat. "Hold on! Are you okay? Misty, you're a part of this little work-family. If you need help, please tell us."

Misty took a shaking step back from Amber. "N-no, it's just—" She glanced fretfully about. "—I have to go." She galloped in a circle around Amber, charging under a floating Comforting who wasn't trying to stop her, and out the doors.

Comforting swooped in to land next to Amber. "She'll be back--" She paused a moment. "Hopefully."

Amber was quivering now. "What happened? She's so sweet. What did we do to her?"

Comforting's ear and feather drooped. "She has things she has to work through, and we can't help her with that." At least, not without possibly bothering Together's plans. "Let's trust in her, and get back to what we were doing. Fussing over her is actually what she's hoping we won't do." She went back to putting books away. "You just have to believe in her."

Just to be sure, she sent an internal email to Together about what just happened.

The reply was swift. It was all according to plan, and nothing had been done wrong. It also included a heart emoji, which made it double worth reading. Comforting giggled with joy at the little touch and redoubled her stocking speed.

Amber finally put her hoof down, hurrying to catch up with Comforting. "What was that about? Comforting, she's a member of my team. I have to keep track of them."

Comforting turned away from the shelf she had been inspecting. "There are things you can control." She placed a finger on Amber's snout. "And things you can't. Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do." Amber shrank a little. "You're the reason I have all of this." She raised a hoof to wave over the library. "I owe you a lot, but what does that have to do with Misty?"

Comforting sighed. "It has nothing to do with her. Like I said, she has to figure something out on her own." She stood tall, which was quite tall compared to Amber. "And when she gets back, she'll be ready to discuss that with you if it comes up. That's up to her, not us, right now."

"I just want to do better." Amber lowered her head. "I don't know what I can do, but I feel like I should do something. If there was something I could be doing for my team, I should be doing that, shouldn't I?"

Comforting reached out her hands in an offer, soon gently drawing Amber in for a soft embrace. "You're doing your job, I promise. Misty just needs to face this alone. Any chasing we do will just make it harder for her. Let her face her problems." She leaned her cheek on Amber's head, the shorter unicorn staying close. "I'm proud of you for caring so much, but sometimes, you just have to accept you can't do everything for your friends. We'll all be happier that way."

Amber closed her eyes. "I know you're right. You always are. I just hope she's okay, whatever's happening."

"She's tougher than she looks. You really have no idea. Let her go, and wait." Comforting rubbed at Amber's back, easing her nerves. "But if you still want to do something, how are you feeling about your letters so far?"

Amber perked her ears and hopped back. She took on a firm stance, horn glowing as she began running through the letters one by one, her glow shifting subtly as she went from one to the next to the next, proudly showing off her progress.

Comforting clapped with joy at the sight. "You're doing them so well! I was starting to think I'd never see a unicorn doing their magic again. So good, so good." She ruffled Amber's mane with a giggle. "You're about ready to learn your first spell. It's not a huge one, but it's a spell. You'll be about the only unicorn using one. Excited?"

"Very much so." Amber rubbed her chin. "But why haven't I seen it before? Hasn't anypony else picked up on anything magical?"

"Sadly, no." Comforting put her hands at her hips. "They forgot it during my nap. How and why, I couldn't tell you, I was sleeping. But there was that time when there wasn't any magic, so they couldn't practice it, and if they couldn't practice it, they couldn't teach their foals, and they grew up never casting it, and they sure couldn't teach their foals, even when magic came back, and on and on." She sighed with a shake of her head. "It's been a mess."

Amber had to stop and take that in. "That sounds awful. That must have been horrible for them, er, us." She smiled back at Comforting. "But we can fix it now. Speaking of that." She raised a hoof at Amber. "Why is this a super secret? Shouldn't we be shouting this at every unicorn that is ready to listen? There's a whole world of unicorns waiting to learn this!" She danced giddily in place, eyes shining with images of uncountable unicorns learning such things. "Can we do that?"

"Sadly, no. Um." Comforting ran her hand down her face. "I don't even want to try explaining why that's a bad idea." She took a soft inhale. "But that's rude, sorry. Easy, slow and easy. You're the trial run. If it works out for you, maybe I'll let you share it along. So do well, and responsibly."

"I promise to be responsible." Amber rolled her eyes but then smiled. "And I know you don't want to talk about it, but I wish you would. It sounds like something really serious and important. If you tell me, maybe I can help. I want to help."

Comforting wiggled her fingers at Amber. "Ah, but then I would have to snatch you away, and you'd  be stuck in my room forever. You'd have a great cuddle buddy, but you don't want that."

Amber laughed at the nonsense. "No, I do not. If I don't get to cuddle with you, I want to go back to cuddling my bed at night. I actually sleep, which you're missing out on, you know?"

Comforting leaned in, touching nose to nose. "I do know that. I miss her, come to think."

"Miss who?"

Comforting stood  up properly. "Just an old friend. She knew how to chase nightmares away." That it was done in person, Comforting left out. "Back then, I had dreams. These days, not so much. Now! Since you made so much progress." She snatched a book from the shelf. "After work, it's time for that first spell."

Amber bounced up and down. "Really? Right away? This is going to be so amazing."

"It will be." Comforting gestured to the nearby shelves. "But remember, you don't get to show off just yet. You're the pilot run. Show that unicorns are ready for this." She vanished without pause, simply ceasing to be there in a casual editing error of the universe.

Later, with the library closed, they were in their learning room. The board was covered in runes, which Comforting was directing a pointer at. "Follow along, with your horn." Each rune she pointed at, Amber glowed with that one's signature. "Good, good, so good, mmm, practice that one, good, good."

When they reached the last one, Comforting folded the pointer up into a little wand. "Good! Not perfect, but quite enough to learn this first one. You know the innate spells, picking things up, and moving things. What sort of trick did you imagine, on your wildest days?"

Amber stopped and considered that. "Something, silly. Something simple, but interesting. I don't need to fly or, or, or do big things. I just want to do something I could impress little fillies with."

Comforting ruffled the top of Amber's head. "You are adorable, but I was hoping for a direction, not a magnitude. Small is already for sure."

Amber frowned with thought, tapping her hooves as each thought came and fled her. "What about making a pony feel better? Like if they got hurt?"

Comforting winced even as she smiled. "That is a very lovely and caring magic you want to cast, but I actually don't have a spell for that. The unicorns of the past never had a healing spell, as nice as that'd be. But yes, that's the kind of idea I meant. Try a different direction."

"Ugh." Amber slumped with disappointment. "Okay. Something useful. How about an umbrella, or rainmaker? I bet I could do that."

Comforting hummed a little as she considered that. "Conjuring? Sure! Prepare to be a master conjurer." She drew a special book from the air. The cover showed a smiling unicorn with a cloud over their head. "What's in that cloud?" Comforting gestured over it. "Whatever that unicorn wants."

Amber giggled to herself, gazing on the cover. "I like that." She traced her hoof over the design. "A pony with control over the clouds. They have the power to change the weather."

Comforting inclined her head. "You're taking this too literally. You could, with a lot of study, summon up whole clouds, but today, we're just popping new things into being, small things." She popped open the book and it flipped obediently to the right page. "Right here, a foal's guide to their first spell!"

She waved at the board and most of the letters vanished, the others taking a specific order and redoubling, creating a string of runes. "This is your first spell. The trick is that you have to play this spell while keeping a firm image of what you want to summon. Up for trying it?"

Amber focused. She remembered the feel of her horn in use. She thought of what she wanted to summon, a small and cute umbrella, one that would protect her and any that she used it on. She played each note faithfully one after the next, her eyes trailing along the board as she went. With a strange, new, tingle, the spell completed with a rush. Something landed on her head.

Amber reached up to find a small umbrella, fit only for a small doll. But it was an umbrella, looking just like the one she imagined. Her eyes widened, struck speechless a moment at that tiny umbrella that meant so much. "I did it." She hugged it close. "I did magic. I'm a real unicorn. I'm..." Tears slipped from her eyes as the reality settled in.

Comforting patted Amber on the head, reaching then for the umbrella. "Cute little thing. As you can see, this spell will only make little things. They won't be very durable either. It's a practice spell, so you get to practice with it. Still, neat, right?"

Amber nodded weakly, sniffling and rubbing her nose. "Yes. Thank you. Can we do more?"

Comforting folded  her arms. "Your job for today is to practice this spell, and get the rest of the letters mastered. Show you can use that spell responsibly. It looks small, but you could do a lot with it, good or bad. Be a good pony." She grinned at Amber. "Which you already are."

Amber applauded as her horn glowed, already trying the spell. The umbrella suddenly vanished and Amber squeaked in surprise. "What happened?!"

Comforting waved at where the umbrella had been. "Limitation of this spell. If you summon something else, or start to, the magic of the first one comes loose. On the bright side, that magic helps fuel the next thing if you keep going. You stopped, so that magic is free." She spread her hands, fingers with them. "Back into the air, recycled into the world."

Amber tried the spell again, a determined expression on her face. She failed again, but managed it on the third try. She got a second umbrella.

"I have to show my girls this." She thought better of it almost as soon as she said it. "Right, super secret. Um." She tapped at her cheek. "If I don't show  a unicorn the spell, can I show them the things I make?"

Comforting considered that a moment before nodding. "Just say it's a trick you have, and don't explain past that."