Amber Starts, Comforting Endings

by David Silver

10 - A Magical Place

Amber knew ponies would come. Ponies had always come to the library. Some came to simply browse and be social, while others came searching for new knowledge, seeking something they weren't certain existed. The ponies of that part of the city were curious and timid in about equal measures.

They didn't have a library before, but that had changed. Her computers had proven strangely attractive. "Maybe Comforting was on to something there." She tapped her chin, examining the occupied two rows of them with happy ponies. "They walk around with them in their pockets, why would they need another?"

One of the many ponies heard her. "Oh, that's easy." The stallion nodded as if it were quite obvious. "Phones are small. If you want to relax, you need something bigger that you don't have to squint at."

Amber blinked, mind adjusting. "Oh, that makes complete sense. Thank you. I didn't mean to interrupt your studies."

"It's alright." He waved Amber off and returned to his web browsing.

That left Amber with a new mystery. "If they can make screens this size, why wouldn't they?" She shrugged and walked over to where Comforting was, making a show of reorganizing books that hadn't moved. "Having fun?"

Comforting squeaked, books raining down around her despite the shelf remaining full and stocked. "You surprised me. Hi, boss." She grabbed Amber in a firm hug. "What's up?"

Amber took the hug, ignoring the stares. "I was wondering why the computers are so popular."

"Because people can use them in comfort." Comforting bobbed her head in a nod. "Now that they have tables and chairs, they're comfy. Phones are tiny, but they're meant for when you're walking around doing other things. Like talking." She pointed at where some ponies were chatting together.

Amber nodded, nuzzling Comforting briefly before pulling back to be 'professionally distant'. "That makes sense. I'm glad these have proved as useful as you thought they would be."

"Told you." Comforting crossed her arms. "Ponies love this stuff." She looked at Amber with a question on her lips.

"No." Amber held a hoof up. "You're not getting any books about that."

"Fine." Comforting vanished with a pop as if bursting into air.

Amber ignored the odd looks she got from ponies at that. "But I see a friend coming in."

She turned from where Comforting had been, casually noting all the extra books had vanished at some point. "Zipp, right?" She trotted towards a pegasus coming into the library. "Good to see you."

"Hey, Amber." Zipp was looking around casually, having seen most of the library in the construction phase. "Not a bad set-up." She glanced around casually. "I was hoping to find a specific series. It's a fiction, fantasy." She glanced nervously about. "But I love it."

Amber clapped her hooves excitedly. "Sounds wonderful. Let's get you and your favorite series together. Which series?"

"Chronicles of Chevalia." Zipp fidgeted, waiting to see if that rang a bell for Amber.

Amber thought a moment, then brightened. "Oh, I think I saw that over here."

She took off at a walk, weaving through the library to the fantasy section. With her eyes wandering over the spines, she went along quickly by author until--"Here you go." She pointed at a brightly colored band of books, clearly of matching theming in appearance. "Pretty sure this is it."

Zipp trotted up, grabbing the first one. "I just finished number five last night, and I can't wait to start six. So you haven't read them yet? No spoilers."

"Well, no." Amber smiled sheepishly. "I confess, I read a lot more non-fiction." She looked between Zipp and the collection of other books in the series. "Is it that good?"

Zipp nodded slowly. "I wasn't sure, but I had some time on my hooves. I liked them enough to keep reading." She tilted her head, smiling. "Each one has had me more glued than the one before it. I couldn't quit now if I tried." She laughed tensely, rubbing behind her head. "That's not strange, is it?"

"Not at all!" Amber threw a leg over Zipp, drawing the nervous pegasus in. "Books are portals to other worlds and ideas. Getting lost in that? Perfectly normal. You take this up to the front and then enjoy it."

Zipp chuckled. "You've sold me. I'll check this out, but I still have one from the previous batch to finish, and the big reveal is tonight, so..." She hurried towards the front. "This place is great. Maybe some other ponies will get into them after me." With a grin, she checked out the book and tucked it away safely. "Away!" She zoomed out on her speedy wings.

Comforting walked in the front door and closed the doubledoors. She leaned back against them, whistling softly and nervously.

Amber raised a brow and hurried towards her. "Is something--" She leaned to the left, spotting something behind Comforting. "What's going on out there?"

"Nothing you should get involved in, ha, trust--" A tendril of shadows burst through a crack in the doors. "Dang it." Comforting swatted at the tendril with a fly swatter. "Back, back! You leave them alone! Back!" Ponies began to panic as the tendrils went right past her despite her efforts.

Amber scrambled back with wide eyes. "What are those?!" And one reached her, brushing just once and that was enough. Her cutie mark peeled free instantly, lost to the grabbing tendril. "Give that back!" But she couldn't hurt the tendril, and it wasn't giving back her mark, already flowing away rapidly. "Hey!"

The entire library became chaos in an instant as ponies ran every which way, screaming with fear at the weird tentacle things that came in and snatched at them, only to steal their cutie marks and leave the ponies behind, dazed and confused. The things didn't seem to be particularly interested in the librarians, at least once it had their marks. They tried to calm the others, but that proves difficult to impossible in the middle of the mark snatching.

Things only calmed when the tendrils finished their looting run and withdrew back to wherever they had come from, outside the library. Amber snorted with frustration. "I don't know what that just was, but it's gone. Everypony, relax. You're safe."

That assurance proved not terribly convincing as many a pony was shivering with fear and shock, but at least the running and screaming stopped. "It's okay," Misty repeated as she approached Amber. "Amber, are you okay?"

"No." Amber looked back at her rump, bare of the mark it had sported for so many years. "But I'm still here. They look like they need help a lot more than me." She noticed something. "Oh, good job."

Misty glanced where Amber was looking. She still had her mark. "I got lucky. I want to help though. How?"

Amber pointed to the most shivering and least functional of the library guests. "Help them, they need a comforting voice right about now."

"You call?" Comforting gently ruffled Amber atop the head. "Sorry I couldn't keep them back."

Amber shook her head. "Don't bother. You'd have gotten yours taken too." She hugged Comforting. "We're all victims here, except Misty. Go help, I need a minute to think."

Comforting twisted her legs to bring her rump into view. "Um, I lost my mark a long time ago, I promise. You never saw it." She wrinkled her nose. "Silly things were no threat to me. But you go, relax. I'll help out around here." She rubbed her hands together, looking ready to hug ponies until they felt better.

Amber smiled. "Thank you. I'm so glad you're here with me. You are such a good friend." She sniffled with emotion, shuffling off to go do something else.

The day went on slowly, ponies recovering as much as possible. None of them were physically harmed, just startled and upset for the lack of their marks. Once they were all settled into place and the panic had ebbed away, Comforting snuck away. "I need a few answers."

She didn't have a library to go to, but she had other places, slipping out of context with the rest of the world back to her safe little hideaway of a home. She pulled out her phone. "Still love that this isn't even strange." She got to tapping busily. The reply came within moments.

Dear Comforting,

I did warn you that a challenge was already underway. The pieces are moving, even if you did nudge one. I know that was an accident, no apologies are needed. Though unpleasant, lessons are being learned, and ponies are growing stronger in the end.

I am trying something new and bold, for me. I have adjusted the justification strategy of my letters. I hope it is pleasing.

Moving onwards to your question, alicorns are not immortal. They are, at best, unaging. There is a difference, and it is of vital importance. Beloved chaos creature, you should know, if it can end, it will eventually end. You persist because you cannot end, at least not easily, even on dauntingly large scales.

Comforting huffed, imagining various ways her beloved princess ponies could have met their end. "Maybe I should have stayed awake." She stuffed the phone angrily into a pocket. "No, that's just me being sad." She flopped to her bottom. "Which I have a right to be. Dang it." She thought fondly of her distant, and passed, once-mentor. "Twilight, the world would be better if you were still here."

She snapped her fingers, conjuring Twilight. "Hey."

"Hello." Twilight looked Comforting over. "You look down. Are you experiencing a friendship problem?" She perked. "I'm here to help."

"No, you aren't." Comforting embraced the figment as they melted away, leaving her alone. "Okay, get it together. We have lovely ponies that need me right now, not the past."

She vanished back to the library and put on a brave face.

"Amber?" Comforting had a worried look on her face. "Are you okay?"

"I will be." Amber sighed. "The hard part is looking at my flank and not seeing my mark." She sighed, tail swishing. "And it's strange, like my talent is buried under a big pillow. Which is bad! What kind of librarian am I if I feel distant from books?"

"That sounds rough. Is there anything I can do to help?" Comforting offered a hug. "I know how it feels to lose yourself and who you were, what you can do, even for just a moment."

"Thanks." Amber allowed herself a hug. "This means a lot to me." She considered that a moment. "You got that lost before?"

Comforting laughed at Amber's confusion. "Oh yes, I have." She delivered that gentle hug. "But I came back. Friends are what help pull you back. I hope I can be that friend."

"You are." Amber nuzzled into Comforting, hugging her close. "You are that. Thank you." She took a soft breath into the soft and plush fur of her chimeric buddy. "Alright, let's smile and get ponies happy to be in the library."

Their efforts proved to be a mixed result. While some ponies were quick to get back to what they were doing, others were just as fast to wander off. For just being after a disaster, the librarians decided they were doing reasonably well.

"Alright, everypony." Amber nodded to her loyal helpers. "If any of you need a break right now, I get that. Just let me know, and don't feel bad about it."

Misty raised a hoof. "Maybe we should do something fun, for all of us, guests and us included."

Amber smiled brightly at that. "That's a great idea." She hopped up on a desk. "Everypony!" That got ponies looking at her. "We're hosting a pizza party." She pointed to one of the off-rooms. "We'll be enjoying it in there. No fee, just fun." Cheers erupted at the idea of free food. "Eat up and tell us about your favorite books."

She slid back to the ground and got out her phone. "Now if somepony could help me ordering that?"

Another librarian took the phone from Amber got to plugging in the order rapidly. "And--" They struck the final button firmly. "--on the way!"

Author's Note:

Pizza parties are great for a variety of reasons. When's the last time you had one?

Join the special community of folks who like my stories and/or get your own here at atreon!

Don't want to do an ongoing thing? You could

Join my discord to chat!

Comments

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

So we're at that point in G5.

Comforting will help the only way that she can without interfering with the Test, by comforting ponies.

Meanwhile, pizza! 🍕

[David Silver]

11825867
Pizza, the easiest comfort food.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

A very, very surprisingly eventful chapter, to say the least.

First I'd like to thank for you accepting my feedback about Zipp. The scene with her being enthusiastic, but also self conscious about continuing to read new Chevalia entries was really cute, and reminded me of Dash getting into Daring Do for the first time, back in the day.

I had a feeling that Opaline was attacking right from when Comforting started having to bat back that tendril, but was still very surprised to be proven right just a few seconds later.

It's easy to forget how scary Opaline can be, sometimes, and that she somehow uprooted all of Equestria by herself.

Together is trying to help, but naturally she can't reveal everything yet. I felt very sorry for Comforting, especially as she tried to reconnect with her memories of Twilight.

But it's a good thing that Comforting, Amber, and Misty have each other in this trying time. And a pizza party where everyone shares little things about their favorite books is both a surprising and really smart way to try and weather the current disaster. I'll be very much looking forward to how the party goes.

[redmar]

Because of hos this differs from Make Your Mark I am uncertain if this is caused by Opaline but the similarities are very big. I guess it's only a matter of time before it's revealed.

[David Silver]

11826441
Well, now you have my curiosity. How did it differ, other than the point of view?

[David Silver]

11826315
Comforting is lucky she lacks a cutie mark to snatch. It's almost as if this was planned somehow, an entire generation ahead of time.

That would be crazy. It couldn't be that...

But Pizza party! That's how you calm spooked ponies.

[redmar]

11826539
That those tendrils of shadows are what Opaline used was not evident to me since in the cartoon they look more like vines or roots. Also The Mane Cast seems to be present in Maretime mere moments before it happened when in the cartoon they were on the Isle of Scaly.
It's mainly the latter part since those vines did have a dark red glow to them in Make Your Mark.

[Twinkie Sprinkle]

11826540

Comforting is lucky she lacks a cutie mark to snatch. It's almost as if this was planned somehow, an entire generation ahead of time.

That would be crazy. It couldn't be that...

Ha! If so, it would be a very, very remarkable example of foresight.

But Pizza party! That's how you calm spooked ponies.

Plenty of food and chatting, hopefully.